D’Amato: Casinos create more problems than they solve
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) expressed major concerns for a new casino in downtown Toronto.
Julie Jacobson/The Associated Press
It would be a terrible idea to open a casino in Waterloo Region.
A casino would dramatically increase the number of problem gamblers here. And in turn, it would multiply the number of family tensions, physical and mental health problems, arrests, bankruptcies and suicides.
Dr. Liana Nolan, the region’s chief medical officer of health, estimates that there are already almost 35,000 moderate to severe problem gamblers in Waterloo Region, Guelph and Centre Wellington. She says that number would increase by at least 10,000 if we built a casino.
That’s because research here and in the United States shows that the biggest social impact of building a casino is the increase in the number of problem gamblers who live within 80 kilometres of the place. Access to gambling creates more problem gamblers who can’t stick to spending limits.
Yes, a casino could bring $4 million in revenue to the host municipality, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission. And it would create some jobs, too.
That looks good to a cash-strapped city or township, and there are several in the region that have been invited to host a gaming facility. Cambridge has already said no. Kitchener and Waterloo have yet to decide. Woolwich Township residents are being surveyed this week as township council considers a proposal from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
But this offer is a Trojan horse. It looks like a gift, but it isn’t.
Each problem gambler is a needy citizen, vulnerable to bankruptcy, trouble with the law, family breakdown and job loss. He or she costs society as much as $56,000 in extra health care needs, absenteeism at work, time spent in court and so on, according to a meticulously researched paper from Region of Waterloo Public Health. And that amount doesn’t even begin to factor in the cost of emotional pain to these problem gamblers and their loved ones. Those are wounds that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
“The problems created through problem gambling would not be offset by the revenues raised,” said Nolan. “It’s better to prevent these problems by not having it in the first place.”
You can read the paper for yourself by going to www.regionofwaterloo.ca and clicking on “Public Health” on the right hand side of the home page. Click on the heading that says: “Problem Gambling and Health Impacts.”
In Woolwich, where residents are being surveyed this week, with a deadline of Friday, there’s a strong lobbying effort going on to persuade residents to vote “No.” You can see it by going to http://nowoolwichcasino.org
Larry Martin, a retired entrepreneur from St. Jacobs and one of the organizers of the “no” movement, believes in the culture of innovation that powers the two universities in Waterloo and of the way we celebrate community leaders. Those things build a community.
“Gambling does not foster healthy communities,” he says. “It breaks down the community.”
Casinos do have programs for problem gamblers, which makes them look as if they care. But it’s a cruel illusion. For casinos to make the required profits, they rely on people who can’t stop themselves from gambling, Nolan says. In slots machines, 5.5 per cent of the clients generate 31 per cent of the revenue for the casino. In table games, 12 per cent of the clients generate 57 per cent of the revenue.
Those numbers come from research commissioned in part by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The Ontario government knows casinos are bad for us, and is trying to push them on us anyway. Let’s not be fooled.
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/856887--d-amato-casinos-create-more-problems-than-they-solve
A casino would dramatically increase the number of problem gamblers here. And in turn, it would multiply the number of family tensions, physical and mental health problems, arrests, bankruptcies and suicides.
Dr. Liana Nolan, the region’s chief medical officer of health, estimates that there are already almost 35,000 moderate to severe problem gamblers in Waterloo Region, Guelph and Centre Wellington. She says that number would increase by at least 10,000 if we built a casino.
That’s because research here and in the United States shows that the biggest social impact of building a casino is the increase in the number of problem gamblers who live within 80 kilometres of the place. Access to gambling creates more problem gamblers who can’t stick to spending limits.
Yes, a casino could bring $4 million in revenue to the host municipality, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission. And it would create some jobs, too.
That looks good to a cash-strapped city or township, and there are several in the region that have been invited to host a gaming facility. Cambridge has already said no. Kitchener and Waterloo have yet to decide. Woolwich Township residents are being surveyed this week as township council considers a proposal from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
But this offer is a Trojan horse. It looks like a gift, but it isn’t.
Each problem gambler is a needy citizen, vulnerable to bankruptcy, trouble with the law, family breakdown and job loss. He or she costs society as much as $56,000 in extra health care needs, absenteeism at work, time spent in court and so on, according to a meticulously researched paper from Region of Waterloo Public Health. And that amount doesn’t even begin to factor in the cost of emotional pain to these problem gamblers and their loved ones. Those are wounds that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
“The problems created through problem gambling would not be offset by the revenues raised,” said Nolan. “It’s better to prevent these problems by not having it in the first place.”
You can read the paper for yourself by going to www.regionofwaterloo.ca and clicking on “Public Health” on the right hand side of the home page. Click on the heading that says: “Problem Gambling and Health Impacts.”
In Woolwich, where residents are being surveyed this week, with a deadline of Friday, there’s a strong lobbying effort going on to persuade residents to vote “No.” You can see it by going to http://nowoolwichcasino.org
Larry Martin, a retired entrepreneur from St. Jacobs and one of the organizers of the “no” movement, believes in the culture of innovation that powers the two universities in Waterloo and of the way we celebrate community leaders. Those things build a community.
“Gambling does not foster healthy communities,” he says. “It breaks down the community.”
Casinos do have programs for problem gamblers, which makes them look as if they care. But it’s a cruel illusion. For casinos to make the required profits, they rely on people who can’t stop themselves from gambling, Nolan says. In slots machines, 5.5 per cent of the clients generate 31 per cent of the revenue for the casino. In table games, 12 per cent of the clients generate 57 per cent of the revenue.
Those numbers come from research commissioned in part by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The Ontario government knows casinos are bad for us, and is trying to push them on us anyway. Let’s not be fooled.
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/856887--d-amato-casinos-create-more-problems-than-they-solve
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