According to a recent study by the Institute for American Values, a nonprofit think tank based in New York, the casino explosion is having a profound impact on our society. Among the study’s findings:
• Casino gambling has moved from the margins to the mainstream of American life.
• The new casinos are primarily filled with modern, highly-addictive slot machines and cater overwhelmingly to middle and low rollers who live within an hour away, return frequently, and play the ...slots.
• Casinos depend on pathological and problem gamblers for their revenue base, with these troubled individuals providing 40-60 percent of slot machine profits.
• Living close to a casino increases the chances of developing a gambling addiction.
• Casinos constitute a regressive tax that hits low-income people the hardest, thereby contributing to economic inequality in America.
• The long-term costs of the new casinos exceed their benefits by as much as 3-1.
The new regional and local casinos, the study concludes, drain wealth from communities, weaken nearby businesses and reduce civic participation, family stability, and other forms of social capital that are at the heart of a successful community.
• Casino gambling has moved from the margins to the mainstream of American life.
• The new casinos are primarily filled with modern, highly-addictive slot machines and cater overwhelmingly to middle and low rollers who live within an hour away, return frequently, and play the ...slots.
• Casinos depend on pathological and problem gamblers for their revenue base, with these troubled individuals providing 40-60 percent of slot machine profits.
• Living close to a casino increases the chances of developing a gambling addiction.
• Casinos constitute a regressive tax that hits low-income people the hardest, thereby contributing to economic inequality in America.
• The long-term costs of the new casinos exceed their benefits by as much as 3-1.
The new regional and local casinos, the study concludes, drain wealth from communities, weaken nearby businesses and reduce civic participation, family stability, and other forms of social capital that are at the heart of a successful community.
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