Weighing the Ill Effects of Gambling

Indiana legislature should weigh ill effects of gambling
Apr 5, 2013

Think of legal gambling as snakes in a pit. You can enter the pit to play with the snakes, but you risk getting bit. In the case of gambling the snake bite is an addiction that can shred a family’s finances, destroy a marriage and leave more successful people destitute.

Concerns about the ill effects of gambling have made Indiana legislators hesitant about further expansion of casinos and other gaming outlets during the General Assembly’s current session.

Those ill effect can be seen in real-life tragedies across the country. Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, for example, stole more than $2 million from a charity to feed her gambling habit. She’s wasted much more than that on her addiction over 10 years.

In another case, Cecilia Chang looted St. John’s University endowment to feed a gambling habit at casinos. Sadly she committed suicide and St. John’s officials are unsure how much she stole or exactly how she did it.

Of course, most gamblers don’t fall into problems on that scale. But legal gambling frequently opens the door for smaller versions of these tragedies, and the extent of the damage is hard to measure.

Gambling addicts don’t advertise their problems. Stealth is part of the addiction. They embezzle money quietly and often are not criminals in any other respect, at least in the early stages of the habit.

Researchers have tried to put a price tag on gambling addiction. In trying to measure the costs of problem gambling, Prof. Earl Grinols of Baylor University factors in bankruptcies, suicides and crime, along with the expense of family breakdown, divorce, child abuse and neglect. Grinols estimates the national cost of gambling addiction at about $62 billion.

Earlier this year, the Indiana Senate passed a bill that would have expanded gambling options at some Indiana casinos. But Gov. Mike Pence and House Speaker Brian Bosma raised objections, and the legislation has been stripped own.

Someday gambling will join the ranks of the tobacco industry in disgrace over the ill effects of its products. For now, Indiana doesn’t need more ways to play these games.


http://www.indystar.com/article/20130405/OPINION07/304050013/Indiana-legislature-should-weigh-ill-effects-gambling