Navajo gaming officials want to make it possible for people at the tribe’s Arizona casino to drink alcohol while they’re gambling.
Tribal law permits alcohol sales and consumption only in casino restaurants.
A bill moving through the Navajo Nation Council would allow drinks to be taken onto the casino floor.
Derrick Watchman is the chief executive of the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise. He says expanding areas where alcohol can be consumed would make the Twin Arrows casino near Flagstaff more competitive with other Arizona casinos.
The expansion wouldn’t carry over to the Navajo Nation’s casinos in New Mexico.
Alcohol is a touchy subject on the Navajo Nation, where the sale and consumption largely is banned.
Watchman expects the discussion over the bill to include the pervasive social ills of alcoholism.
