Concerned citizens protest potential change in Shreveport casino smoking ban

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Less than two years ago, Shreveport became the 30th municipality in Louisiana to instill smoke-free workplace protections. However, on Tuesday, May 23, the Shreveport City Council will meet to possibly repeal or modify the ban they put in place regarding smoking in casinos.

Two weeks ago on May 9, the council discussed changing that ban again to allow smokers back on the gaming floors. Some city council members say the ban may be impacting casino performance in Shreveport.

Concerned community members met at Government Plaza at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 22 to protest and make final pleas against any changes to the ban. They say they are worried about the health of casino workers.

“Why is this coming back for a vote? Why are they looking to pull back these protections and we can’t answer that question,” said Onjewel Smith, Southern States Strategist for Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights.

“This isn’t about treading on your right to do to your body what you want to do to your body. It’s about our rights to not have your decision to smoke to tread on our rights to clean air. This is about workers’ rights to have clean air in their place of employment,” said LeVette Fuller, former Shreveport city councilwoman.

The city council is set to vote on whether smoking should be allowed again in casinos on Tuesday, May 23.

“According to the numbers I received. Bossier is up 7 percent. We are down 21 percent. So, if you have a business I think everybody should be on the same level plane. If they said we went to Bossier and Bossier turned us down that’s different but they didn’t even go to Bossier,” said District F Councilman James Green.

“This legislation is not going to interfere with clubs, it’s not going to interfere with nothing. They just say look our revenue is down, can y’all help us? Can y’all give us one floor? Not the whole boat,” Green said.

Some people said the council is not focused on the health of citizens the ordinance could affect.

“The city council is focused on the economics of these casinos, but they’re not considering the health and wellness of the casino employees. The casinos are doing just fine,” said Dr. Martha Whyte, regional medical director with the Office of Public Health.

If passed, the ordinance calls for one non-smoking floor in Shreveport casinos.

“This legislation is not going to interfere with clubs, it’s not going to interfere with nothing. They just say look our revenue is down, can y’all help us? Can y’all give us one floor? Not the whole boat,” Green said.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) sent a letter to Mayor Tom Arceneaux and the city council refuting some of the casinos’ claims about the quality of air filtration systems that are installed.

“As a technical Society developing standards for indoor environmental quality, ASHRAE holds the position that the only means of avoiding health effects and eliminating indoor environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is to ban all smoking activity inside and near buildings,” the letter from ASHRAE President Farooq Mehboob reads in part.

READ THE FULL LETTER BELOW:

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