I laughed out loud while reading the Rapid City Journal profile on casino owner Mike Trucano. His assertion that the American Cancer Society is going to outspend the casino interest 10 to 1 is simply jaw dropping. Last I checked the casino and gaming industry weren't hurting for cash and their "donations" are much steadier than those made to a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting cancer.

Going smoke-free is about public health not Trucano's private profit. Ending workplace smoking will help reduce the number of lung cancer cases in South Dakota - the deadliest form of the disease - decrease heart attacks, strokes and emphysema as well as other serious illnesses caused by someone else's so-called "right" to smoke indoors.

Workers, customers and the public at large deserve to have smoke-free public places including casinos. Maybe instead of spending his money fighting a law the people of South Dakota clearly want, Trucano and other casino interests should spend more time trying to attract non-smoking customers, after all they make up 80 percent of the public. Once this referendum passes, I nominate Trucano as someone to watch in 2011 - watch him adapt and thrive in a smoke-free workplace, that is.

KEVIN WEILAND, MD FACP

Piedmont