No safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke

The Sault Star
Fri 27 Aug 2004

Efforts to exempt local bingo from Sault Ste. Marie's smoke-free bylaw should be resisted by Sault city council for a number of reasons:

• First and foremost, if council grants bingo an exemption, other establishments will ask for similar treatment.

• The bylaw is a health protection measure, and reintroducing a health hazard to some Sault residents but not others is not good public health policy.

• Claims that the ventilation system in the bingo hall in question addresses the second-hand smoke problem are simply not accurate. While ventilation can remove much of the visible portion of cigarette smoke, various toxins such as carbon monoxide are not entirely removed.

  There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke, and no public health agency or government has ever been able to set one.

There are many steps bingo operators can take to address the smoke-free issue and increase attendance.

A few are increased prizes, increased number of smoke breaks, and use of electronic bingo machines that allow play while the patron is outside on an extended smoke break.

All four bingo halls in Thunder Bay -- which are all smoke-free -- have such machines.

Rapid Bingo, in which players play for coupons during smoke breaks, offer non-smokers a diversion during breaks, while special nights on which game strips are offered at discounts/loss leader prices can help bring more customers into the hall.

Bingo is a sector in which attendance has been in decline for many years.

In the Sault, this decline has, no doubt, been hastened by the opening of the casino.

As for competition from on-reserve bingo, city council should press provincial Health Minister George Smitherman to ensure that gaming establishments on-reserve throughout the province are treated the same way as off-reserve establishments under smoke-free legislation he plans to bring forward this fall.

Michael Perley, Director,
Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco
Toronto, Ont.