Puyallup tribe should go smoke-free at Emerald Queen Casino while COVID-19 persists
Nothing in state law or local ordinance can force the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to adopt non-smoking rules at its two Emerald Queen Casino sites. Not the Washington Smoke-Free Workplace Act, which voters approved by a wide margin in 2005. Not even a pandemic that can leave victims gasping like a three-pack-a-day emphysema patient.
As a sovereign tribal nation, the Puyallups exercise hard-won rights that were denied far too long. That means they’re free to let guests keep puffing away in the EQC’s gaming halls, restaurants and entertainment venues in Tacoma and Fife.
But it’s never too late to freely implement an indoor smoking ban at the EQC, which a handful of other tribes’ gaming operations — including the Nisqually Red Wind Casino near Olympia and Little Creek Casino near Shelton — and others around the country, from Iowa to Arizona, have wisely done this year.
If casino guests are directed to use outdoor smoking areas temporarily, that’s a small price to pay in the battle against a frighteningly resilient public-health threat.
The world is struggling to beat a COVID-19 scourge with no sign of abating. Pierce County’s infection rate was recently described by health authorities as “explosive;” our daily average number of cases (72.6) is more than quadruple what authorities say is safe enough to relax more restrictions (16 or fewer).
Allowing tobacco products on crowded casino floors is, quite simply, double trouble, to borrow the name of a popular slot machine game.
Trouble No. 1: Studies show that people who smoke and vape are prone to lung problems, which can compromise their immunity and increase risk of severe disease in those infected by coronavirus.
Trouble No. 2: Smoking is a much-too-convenient way to flout the casinos’ mandatory mask policy and expose employees and other guests to potentially infectious respiratory droplets. One EQC worker, who spoke to TNT reporter Debbie Cockrell last week via Facebook chat, said: “The sad part is most individuals at the casino use smoking as an excuse not to wear their mask.”
The worker provided a memo that alleges unsafe conditions — including a High Limits gaming area that some employees wryly nicknamed “Covid Corner” — at the glitzy new 310,000-square-foot casino overlooking Interstate 5 near downtown Tacoma. Federal occupational safety officials confirmed they’d received the memo, and the tribe says it’s investigating the claims.
Asked Monday whether a smoking ban was under consideration, a tribal spokesman said he’d get back to us. Meantime, the EQC website has its usual tobacco-friendly verbiage: “Smoking will be allowed on the floor and in designated smoking areas. We expect you to keep your mask on as much as possible.”
Other COVID-19 measures include capacity restrictions, temperature checks, hand sanitizer stations and regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces.
The Stillaguamish Tribe raised the ante when it reopened its Angel of the Winds Casino near Arlington as a “100-percent smoke-free property” on May 13, the first of Washington’s 22 tribal casinos to end their COVID-19 shutdowns. “This is a bold statement showing we hold the health of our guests, Team Members, and community in high regard,” general manager Travis O’Neil said in a news release at the time.
A leader of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska explained in the most practical terms why the tribe’s Prairie Flower Casino in Iowa was going smokeless. “As we looked at it,” said chairman Larry Wright, Jr., “it would be very difficult to enforce a 100 percent mask requirement when you have people in the casino smoking.”
Puyallup tribal leaders showed good judgment this spring by halting casino operations for two months when they didn’t have to. They could show it again now by enacting a zero-tolerance policy for indoor smoking.