DETROIT CASINOS - THE BIG LIE
In the latest example of the Michigan Legislature caving into the powerful casino interests, the health of casino workers and non-smoking patrons was "trumped" by political influence. The pablum fed to the public was that the Detroit Casinos (which take $1 Billion Dollars a year off the impoverished local community) would not be able to compete with the Tribal Casinos which are not subject to the ban because of Federal Law. Rather than blindly accept this self serving assertion, and assuming the Michigan Legislature knows nothing about Michigan and its geography, this assertion is easy to test using Mapquest or Expedia.
Let's assume a person is at the Wayne County Courthouse and decides they want to gamble. The person is a smoker. If the ban was in place for all Michigan, including the Detroit Casinos, how far would that person have to travel to legally gamble away their money and smoke at the same time. In order to smoke cigarettes, an addictive and now regulated drug by the FDA, and expose themselves to potentially becoming an addicted gambler they would have to go to a Tribal Casino.
One glance at the map show it would be quite trip. Let see exactly how far a smoking gambler would have to drive
EACH WAY to the closest Tribal Casino in order to smoke and gamble.
Firekeepers, Battle Creek - 113 Miles (1 Hour 39 Minutes) EACH WAY;
Saganing - 138 Miles (2 hours 6 minutes) EACH WAY; and
Soaring Eagle 152 Miles (2 Hours 19 Minutes) EACH WAY.
REALITY: The Michigan Legislature just passed a statewide smoking ban, signed by Governor Granholm on December 18, 2009, and effective as of May 1, 2010. All smokers who want to smoke in buildings open to the public must now be in a Detroit gambling hall to do so. If you want to drink alcohol and smoke in a public building, in Michigan, you must be in one of the DETROIT CASINOS, unless you want to drive to one of the Tribal Casinos and spend 3-4 hours in a car or can find a tobacco bar (at least 10% of sales being tobacco) that serves alcohol. Well played Detroit Casinos, well played.
Now how would you feel if you were a bar owner in downtown Detroit with smoking customers? The Michigan Legislature just put you out of business and funneled your business into one of three Detroit gambling halls. Meanwhile, the Detroit Casinos put all the newly minted 21 year old smokers into their "gambling zone." This only makes sense if you consider that the Michigan Legislators don't use common sense, and blindly accept the propaganda fed to them by the gambling industrialists, or have been compromised.
THE $1 BILLION DOLLAR
(PER YEAR DETROIT CASINO TAKE) QUESTION:
Is it reasonable to accept an argument that a smoker would spend 3-4 hours in a car just to smoke and gamble at a tribal casino, and therefore the Detroit Casinos should be exempted from the smoking ban? Why didn't the press report this ridiculous assertion? Is there a pattern developing?
