Navajo Casinos Could Go Smoke-Free, as Tribal Council Mulls Clean Air Legislation

Navajo Carry Amelia Moore Nation casinos in Arizona and New Mexico could turn permanently free people of indoor baccy smoke.

The Navajo Nation owns and operates 4 tribal casinos. While indoor smoking is temporarily suspended at for each one gaming property, that is slated to modify when COVID-19 conditions improve inward New Mexico and Arizona, where the casinos are located.

The Navajo Carry Amelia Moore Nation Council commenced its fall down 2021 legislative session today, Oct 18. One point on the agendum is debating whether the clean-living indoor transmit immunity provided to the tribe’s casinos should be extinguished.

A statute called “Nilch’ éí Bee Ííná — Air is Life Act 2021” has been introduced for consideration. The bank note seeks to prohibit the indoor exercise of tobacco products in all tribal businesses and workplaces, including the IV casinos. The tribe’s Fire Rock, Flowing Water, and Northern Edge casinos are set inward New Mexico. Twin Arrows is in Arizona.

If the valuate is adoptive past a unsubdivided legal age of the 24 delegates of the Navajo Carry Amelia Moore Nation Council, indoor tobacco expend — apart from ceremonial applications — would follow limited to buck private residences.

Pandemic Silver Lining

Anti-smoking advocates experience pounced on the chance to run for permanent smoke-free indoor policies at casinos, both commercial message and tribal, across the United States. Such anti-smoking activists say the pandemic has only when strengthened the parameter to forbiddance indoor smoking in public places. Some tribal officials agree.

The Air is Life lawmaking is important to the livelihood of our families. Now, to a greater extent than ever, we demand to protect the caliber of our sacred, life-giving force, our air,” declared Delegate Carl Slater, unity of the bill’s supporters.

The Air is Life Act would prohibit the utilisation of baccy products inward indoor workplaces or public buildings anywhere on Navajo Nation land. Outdoor smoking spaces would need to follow designated at to the lowest degree 25 feet out from public buildings.

Being a sovereign entity, the Navajo Carry Nation has the freedom to mold its own indoor smoking laws. Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), the leading system workings to banning indoor gambling casino smoking crosswise the country, claims smoke-free casinos are goodness for business.

ANR points to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. that shows 86.3 percent of US adults make out not smoke. The American Cancer the Crab Society adds that insurance premiums for workers employed privileged smoke-free casinos are drastically lower. The mediocre one-year premium drops from $1,145 for a smoking cassino employee to $762 for a non-smoking gaming staffer.

Failed Attempts

The Navajo Nation’s 2021 devolve legislative session certainly isn’t the number one time a motility to dowse indoor smoking at the tribe’s casinos has been initiated. Such efforts make permeated the council since at to the lowest degree 2008.

The ANR says Navajo Carry Nation passing an indoor tobacco censor would follow a subject trend of tribal casinos requiring guests to proceed open to visible radiation up. The anti-smoking protagonism says in that location are to a greater extent than 1,000 gaming venues inward the United States that are currently 100 percent smoke-free indoors, including 154 tribal casinos.