Native American reservation signs law BANNING indoor smoking

Navajo Nation bans indoor smoking and e-cigarettes throughout reservation – including inside casinos

• Smoking inside the tribe’s four casinos had been temporarily banned due to COVID-19 safety measures
• The permanent enactment yesterday ‘is a fundamental right to protect our Navajo people’s right to breathe clean air,’ Nez said in a statement
• The ban also prohibits the use of smokeless commercial tobacco products
• Twitter users argued that banning smokeless tobacco products was harmful to the Navajo people that are using them as a means of quitting smoking
• Nez credited the Air is Life coalition for educating the public about the danger and risks of secondhand smoke for more than 13 years
• While the act has received widespread support from the public, some still worry about the effects the ban will have on revenue for the tribe’s casinos

The president of Navajo Nation announced that smoking will be banned in enclosed public locations within the reservation, including at the tribe’s four casinos.

Jonathan Nez, president of the largest Native American Reservation in the United States, signed the legislation on Saturday.

Smoking inside the tribe’s four casinos had been temporarily banned due to COVID-19 safety measures, but has now been permanently outlawed.

The permanent enactment yesterday ‘is a fundamental right to protect our Navajo people’s right to breathe clean air,’ Nez said in a statement.

Tobacco use in the tribe’s private homes or for ceremonial purposes will still be allowed, as long as they don’t function as childcare centers, adult care centers, or as business offices, ABC News reported.

The permanent enactment yesterday ‘is a fundamental right to protect our Navajo people’s right to breathe clean air,’ Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement

On Saturday, Nez signed the ‘Niłch’ Éí Bee Ííná – Air is Life Act’ into law 

Smoking in public enclosed areas of the reservation – including its four casinos – is now banned. Above, Fire Rock Navajo Casino 

Meanwhile, some were critical of the ban – which also prohibits the use of smokeless commercial tobacco products – and argued that the measure will be detrimental for people in the tribe trying to quit smoking. 

‘Lumping smokeless tobacco in there is harmful to the Navajo people that are using them as a means of quitting smoking. Why would it be included?’ Grove Michell wrote on Twitter. 

‘Leaving aside e-cigs, just not to be blamed to be biased, but a smoke-free act that includes smokeless tobacco products? Seems that these people didn’t give this act too much thought. What were you guys smoking?’ tweeted Marcello King.  

Nez said the act was a ‘monumental achievement and bold step in the right direction to promote healthy living among our Navajo people.’

Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and other commercial products in public were successfully banned from public buildings after tribal lawmakers approved the bill in October.

Nez said the act was a ‘monumental achievement and bold step in the right direction to promote healthy living among our Navajo people’

Nez credited the Air is Life coalition for educating the public about the danger and risks of secondhand smoke for more than 13 years

Nez then followed through with the bill by signing it into law before the Sunday deadline to act on it. 

Nez credited the Air is Life coalition for educating the public about the danger and risks of secondhand smoke for more than 13 years and said the ‘Niłch’ Éí Bee Ííná – Air is Life Act’ was the result of the coalition’s work.

Previous attempts to ban smoking in the tribe’s public indoor spaces had been unsuccessful.

The tribal council had approved such an attempt in 2008 before it was vetoed by then-President Joe Shirley.

Shirley cited concerns that the ban would affect the gambling revenue, – as do critics of Nez’s current ban – as the reason he didn’t support the bill more than a decade ago.

Former president Ben Shelly similarly banned smoking in office buildings under his administration but allowed smoking in the casinos.

While the act has mostly received widespread support from the public, some still worry about the effects the ban will have on revenue for the tribe’s casinos – Fire Rock, Flowing Water, and Northern Edge in New Mexico and Twin Arrows in Arizona.

While the act has received widespread support from the public, some still worry about the effects the ban will have on revenue for the tribe’s four casinos – Fire Rock, Flowing Water (pictured), and Northern Edge in New Mexico and Twin Arrows in Arizona

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