Monetizing Human Suffering

Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling NoSlots.com Blog & Alerts   Help the House Finance Committee remove casino money from the state budget. Say no to monetizing human suffering by turning 10,000 of our neighbors into slot machine addicts and problem gamblers.* So no to a budget built on casino license money that depends upon a recklessly rushed casino approval process that will lead only to litigation and broken promises to higher education, mental healthcare, and local property taxpayers. Speak out against casinos and pie-in-the-sky casino money promises at one of these House hearings near you: Concord: Thurs, Mar 7, 4-7 p.m., Reps Hall at the State House, 107 N. Main St. Nashua: Mon, Mar 11, 5-8 p.m., Nashua Community College, 505 Amherst St. Whitefield: Mon, Mar 11, 5-8 p.m., White Mountain High School, 127 Regional Rd. Claremont: Mon, Mar 18, 5-8 p.m., Sugar River Valley Technical Center, 111 South St. Rochester: Mon, Mar 18, 5-8 p.m., Rochester Community Center, 150 Wakefield St. Tips to be sure you are heard by our Representatives: Arrive 20-30 minutes early and sign up on the speaker sign-up sheet. Make your testimony clear, compelling, and not more than two minutes. Key reasons for opposing slot machine casinos: Including casino revenues (licensing or otherwise) in the 2014-15 budget is a recipe for budget chaos and broken promises, due to the 2 year minimum delay required to adopt regulations, select among competing casino bidders, complete background checks, secure local permits, and conclude litigation. The New England casino market is saturated, limiting NH to local-market convenience casinos and slots barns which will not attract promised out-of-state gambling dollars. Casinos would unfairly cannibalize jobs and consumer spending from thousands of existing New Hampshire businesses and nonprofits, which are often integral parts of our local communities. A single Salem casino would create 10,000 new gambling addicts and cause 1,200 additional serious and violent crimes per year, according to the Governor's Gaming Study Commission. Only 10 percent of gambling addicts use available addiction treatment programs. Slot machine casinos would wipe out charity gaming. As in every casino state, the casino lobby would dominate and then corrupt state politics. If even one is legalized, there is no viable means to stop casinos and tacky slots parlors from proliferating throughout the state. Click here for our 30 Reasons (and detailed primary source substantiation) for opposing slot machine casinos. For budget promises meant to be kept, Jim Rubens, Chair *The NH Gaming Study Commission found that a single casino such as that proposed for Salem would cause an additional 7,000-14,000 New Hampshire residents to become pathologically addicted or problem gamblers see pages GSC 21 and 99. Contrary to the bogus assertion by the gambling lobby, these addicted gamblers do not already exist here, and Massachusetts casinos will not be close enough to New Hampshire population centers to induce gambling addiction at these high levels. Donate To GSCAEG 30 Reasons To Oppose Slot Casinos