| "Smoke-Free Gaming" |
"We know who you are."
"As a grassroots advocate for clean indoor air laws for the last five
years, it's finally come to the point where lawmakers know who I am
and what I do. Good. They should know.
But for so long I didn't have the credibility, the recognition, the
respect. I had to earn it.
I had to advocate myself while I advocated for the cause.
Advocacy is an ongoing journey. It has molded my perspectives and
my beliefs to learn to be tenacious; to persevere; to take criticism. It
has taught me how to take risks; how to gamble.
Smoke-Free Gaming was started by myself and another casino patron
who love the gaming environment but hate the smoke. So when the
Colorado legislature exempted casinos from the Clean Indoor Air Act
we took action immediately. We talked to other gamblers and we
talked to casino employees. We built a database of hundreds of email
addresses. We walked the streets of our three gambling cities with
petitions. We conducted indoor-air tests and cotinine tests. We took
written statements of casino employees detailing their personal
experiences of their declining health and we read them to lawmakers.
We got assistance from Pete Bialick of the Group to Alleviate Smoking
Pollution (GASP) of Colorado who worked with us to fund direct
mailings to casino employees about the health effects of secondhand
smoke. We became the "voice" for the casino employees who were
experiencing retaliation for any complaints they made about the toxic
air they were breathing. Some were actually fired.
The next legislative session, our bill passed and the casino exemption
was repealed. Our casinos went 100% smoke free on Jan. 1, 2008. I
remember the moment I learned our bill had passed, I was smiling and
crying at the same time. We had achieved our goal and we did so
because we never gave up, we took a chance.
In addition to other gaming states, Smoke-Free Gaming is now focused
on advocacy and outreach in Nevada, the biggest gaming revenue
state in the country. We're taking on Nevada because it's going to be
the most difficult, the most challenging and the odds are against us.
But as any gambler will tell you, you can be the best at your game but
sometimes it comes down to luck. And we're feeling pretty lucky."
"As a grassroots advocate for clean indoor air laws for the last five
years, it's finally come to the point where lawmakers know who I am
and what I do. Good. They should know.
But for so long I didn't have the credibility, the recognition, the
respect. I had to earn it.
I had to advocate myself while I advocated for the cause.
Advocacy is an ongoing journey. It has molded my perspectives and
my beliefs to learn to be tenacious; to persevere; to take criticism. It
has taught me how to take risks; how to gamble.
Smoke-Free Gaming was started by myself and another casino patron
who love the gaming environment but hate the smoke. So when the
Colorado legislature exempted casinos from the Clean Indoor Air Act
we took action immediately. We talked to other gamblers and we
talked to casino employees. We built a database of hundreds of email
addresses. We walked the streets of our three gambling cities with
petitions. We conducted indoor-air tests and cotinine tests. We took
written statements of casino employees detailing their personal
experiences of their declining health and we read them to lawmakers.
We got assistance from Pete Bialick of the Group to Alleviate Smoking
Pollution (GASP) of Colorado who worked with us to fund direct
mailings to casino employees about the health effects of secondhand
smoke. We became the "voice" for the casino employees who were
experiencing retaliation for any complaints they made about the toxic
air they were breathing. Some were actually fired.
The next legislative session, our bill passed and the casino exemption
was repealed. Our casinos went 100% smoke free on Jan. 1, 2008. I
remember the moment I learned our bill had passed, I was smiling and
crying at the same time. We had achieved our goal and we did so
because we never gave up, we took a chance.
In addition to other gaming states, Smoke-Free Gaming is now focused
on advocacy and outreach in Nevada, the biggest gaming revenue
state in the country. We're taking on Nevada because it's going to be
the most difficult, the most challenging and the odds are against us.
But as any gambler will tell you, you can be the best at your game but
sometimes it comes down to luck. And we're feeling pretty lucky."
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| For more information www.smokefreegaming.org |
| Information provided by Stephanie Steinberg, Chairwoman Smoke-Free Gaming |
