New York State government released a stunning report showing 10% of adolescents in the state currently have a gambling problem and an additional 10% currently are at risk for developing a gambling problem. That means over 300,000 adolescents in New York State either have or are at risk of having a serious gambling problem.
Social and economic costs of legalized gambling, and the difficulty of its regulation are the subjects of this Southern Illinois University Law Review article by John Warren Kindt. The evidence shows that gambling causes addiction, bankruptcy, crime, and corruption in its surrounding communities. All of the social costs associated with those problems can add up, and there is shockingly little pressure on government or the predatory gambling business to do better.
This study by Jon E. Grant, M.D., Matt G. Kushner, Ph.D., and Suck Won Kim, M.D. establishes a link between alcohol addiction and gambling addiction. Many casinos offer free alcohol because it increases the likelihood of people losing their self-control. The more people lose their self-control, the more money they lose gambling.
Predatory gambling operators are fond of framing their scheme as a “voluntary tax.” Yet according to the California Attorney General’s 2006 study titled “Gambling in the Golden State”, problem and pathological gamblers cost California $1 billion per year, more than half what the state received in gambling revenues. Read the report below.
Only about 6% of people experiencing problems with gambling are reported to seek help from problem gambling services, according to this study. People experiencing problems with their gambling often do not seek professional help until a ‘crisis’ occurs — financial ruin, relationship break down, court charges or attempted suicide — or when they hit ‘rock bottom. Another reason why problem gamblers are afraid to get help is because two of of three have done something illegal to obtain the money to feed their addiction.
Dr. Robert Breen and Mark Zimmerman studied the length of time it takes the average compulsive gambler to become addicted. They found machines addict victims about three times faster than traditional table and track gambling. They are also the biggest moneymakers for government-sanctioned gambling today.
Slot Machine Addiction Study: The Rapid Onset of Pathological Gambling in Machine Gamblers
This Associated Press story below spotlights how many tribes have not benefited long-term from casinos, despite the fact that the Indian Gambling Regulatory Act of 1988 was passed in the name of helping Native Americans advance economically. This excerpt says it all:
“Of more than 500 American Indian tribes across the country, 124 have notified the U.S. Interior Department of intent to share gambling revenue with members, according to the Indian Gaming Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But government officials say they take a hands-off approach and do not know how many actually make payments or how much they share.
Valerie Red-Horse, a financial analyst familiar with Indian casinos, said some tribes have probably paid out too much, but the distributions often barely meet the needs of tribes who live on distant reservations with meager resources and limited access to government services.”
