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Friday, June 21, 2013

The True Costs of A Slot Barn in Plainville

These are not the only costs. Being ignored is lack of water and waste water treatment - 2 costly items.

From the Plainville Gambling Consultant's report

PROBLEM GAMBLING:
"Opening a 1,250 machine slot parlor at the Plainridge Racecourse is expected to increase the problem and pathological gambling rate, for those living within 10 miles of the facility and within the first three years of operations, by approximately 44%. This could lead to an additional 100 Town citizens developing a gambling problem and another 5200 Norfolk County residents developing a gambling problem."
 

CRIME:
"The opening of the proposed slot parlor at the Plainridge Racecourse is anticipated to result in a slight increase in reported crimes. Police activity may increase by 5% to 10% placing some additional demand on the Plainville Police Department. The majority of the increased activity is expected to result from a larger volume of motor vehicle incidents including accidents and DUIs, an increase number of property crimes, and an increase in domestic dispute calls. In terms of social impact, the most serious occurrences are anticipated to be suicides and family disputes; in most instances, gambling addiction is a prominent factor.

"The below figures represent anticipated changes in activity volume for the Town of Plainville’s Police Department based primarily on studies described in the SEIG Report as good or excellent. IT IS IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THAT THESE ESTIMATES DO NOT REFLECT THE ACTUAL PREVALENCE OR INCREASES IN GAMBLING-RELATED CRIME AS THESE ESTIMATES ARE BASED ON CRIME REPORT STATISTICS, WHICH ARE BELIEVED TO GREATLY UNDERESTIMATE THE ACTUAL AMOUNT OF GAMBLING RELATED CRIME THAT TAKES PLACE. [emphasis added] For example, for persons entering gambling treatment centers in Oregon, 34% reported to have committed an illegal act related to their gambling while only 3% report any legal problems and only 1.5% reported being incarcerated as a result of their gambling.153 This suggests that gambling related crimes captured by crime report statistics may only represent the tip of the iceberg of all gambling related offenses."


ALCOHOL-RELATED ACCIDENTS: "Driving under the influence is another possible ill effect of casinos and racinos (race tracks at which slot machines are available for gamblers). A recent study found that rural or moderately sized counties with casinos saw an increase in alcohol-related fatalities."

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