Somerset Meeting Tuesday, April 14th

The reminder below was sent by a friend.

Please remember that Predatory Gambling effects those within a 50 mile radius.

We're all neighbors!



         Just a reminder to all my Fall River friends that what happens in Somerset will NOT stay in Somerset. As you all know if Somerset gets a casino Fall River and Swansea will suffer the fall-out repercussions. I don’t need to list them for you. But I write to remind you that the national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, Les Bernal, will speak tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14th at 7 p.m. in The Old Town Hall at 1480 County Street, Somerset (parking lot next door). The press & cable t.v. will be there, and we need to show a large united opposition. So please come join us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 March 2013 | 12:01 am in Gazette Guest Columnists

Casino ups public health worries

What do you think?

By Pramod Dwivedi

What do you think?

What do you think?

So, we voted to establish a casino in our city! The victory was a landslide. I was surprised.

What do you think?

My aim in this article is neither to support nor oppose the casino. My aim is to draw your attention to the facts on public health concerns and how to address them if we do get a casino.

This is an important community issue that warrants careful analysis and attention. Everyone in our community — from government organizations to private businesses to non-profit organizations — has a role to play: To be prepared, to have a plan.

What do you think?

Gambling is one of the fastest-growing industries in this country. Most states have legalized it. One in three Americans visited a casino in 2009.

What do you think?

Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission records show that 2012 admissions to casino riverboats/gambling structures totaled 16.3 million; at racetracks, 6.3 million. Iowa casino adjusted gross revenue totaled more than $1 billion, and racetracks reached $460.5 million.

 

Some of the reasons given for wanting a casino in Cedar Rapids were to identify new sources of revenue without increasing taxes, a new avenue for entertainment and several hundred new jobs. We welcome the potential benefits.

However, gambling is more than an economic issue. It is also a public health issue.

Addictive gambling is considered a psychiatric disorder. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, about 3 million American adults are pathological gamblers. At least 6 million others have less serious but still significant gambling addictions, and as many as 15 million are at risk of becoming problem gamblers.

Most compulsive gamblers are men, according to a study by Harvard University, but it is increasing among women. The rate of compulsive gambling is higher among blacks than whites, and people living within a 50-mile radius of a casino are twice as likely to become compulsive gamblers.

Folks at the bottom of socioeconomic ladder are most vulnerable. Further, the gambling population has high rates of depression, mania, alcohol and drug abuse and some personality disorders. About 22 percent of gamblers report panic attacks, 72 percent report an episode of major depression and 52 percent say they abuse alcohol.

The Iowa Department of Public Health recently reported that 22 percent of adult Iowans said they had been negatively affected by a gambler (family, friend or someone they knew).

With these statistics in mind, we have an opportunity to develop a thoughtful, robust plan before any final state approval of a casino in Cedar Rapids. We need to build a coalition and develop partnerships with our stakeholders (investors, elected officials, customers, etc.). Our health and health care partners in the community need to be aware of the impact of gambling, outline the public health impact (smoking, addictive behaviors, human ecology, etc.), and develop an action-oriented agenda for prevention and treatment.

Our main job here at Linn County Public Health is to improve the public’s health, so we are always eager to be a partner in these discussions and to advise a coalition tasked with studying and preparing our community for a potential casino.

The decision to allow casino gambling in Linn County is certainly a community issue. Now we must use the opportunity w to help shape and guide our public health and social policies as they relate to gambling while we have the time to do so.

 

Pramod Dwivedi is health director, Linn County Public Health.

http://thegazette.com/2013/03/16/casino-ups-public-health-worries/

Gambling Addicts Turn To Theft For Money

February 26, 2013

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

 

PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) – Local residents are being drawn to the tables and slot machines at the casinos to fill their need to gamble.

Some players admit that they like to gamble, but rarely will they admit that they have a gambling addiction problem.

Admitted and reformed gambling addict, Bill Kearney, explains to Mike Pintek how addicts will go to any extreme to get money for gambling.

Kearney has first-hand experience with stealing to feed his habit.

He feels that people need to monitor their gambling spending more frequently to see what damage they are doing.

Listen to the interview here

 

Bill Kearney

You can hear Mike Pintek weekdays noon to 3 p.m. only on NewsRadio 1020 KDKA!

- See more at: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/02/26/gambling-addicts-turn-to-theft-for-money/#sthash.VInKWLdi.dpuf

Aqueduct casino is emptying the pockets of New Yorkers, not tourists

More gambling in city means more city gamblers

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, August 20, 2012

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Mary Altaffer/AP

The millions being gambled away at Aqueduct shows why more casinos would be dangerous.

Led by Gov. Cuomo, New York is moving toward consideration of a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling. Supporters often say New Yorkers are traveling to other states to bet and leaving their losings there.

Undoubtedly, this is true, but bringing them home would be only part of the story.

Of greater significance, new data indicate that casinos in population centers — New York City, for a prime example — would draw substantial money from large numbers of players who haven’t been inclined to hike to gaming spots in Connecticut or Atlantic City.

From 2007 to 2011, the money gambled in Northeastern states stayed essentially constant even as new casinos opened, according to an analysis by gambling consultant Charles Vickery.

Pretty much every dollar that New York gained — thanks to upstate Indian-run casinos and state-sponsored video lottery racinos at horse tracks — was a dollar lost by neighboring states.

The issue isn't solely the origin of Gambling Dollars. It's ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT that never happens as Niagara proved.


Then came the opening of Resorts World at Aqueduct Racet rack, the first casino-style gambling venue in the city. Its 2,500 video slots soon raked in $14 million a week — a spike that helped pushed the region’s gambling revenue beyond its previous high, in 2008.

Suddenly, quick, easy availability by subway, bus or car opened the way for nongambling New Yorkers to open their wallets and kiss their money goodbye.

So let’s be honest about what happens if the Legislature approves the casino amendment for a second time and voters ratify it in November 2013. New Yorkers would stay in New York to gamble and the number of gambling New Yorkers would rise sharply. And that’s not a good thing.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/aqueduct-casino-emptying-pockets-new-yorkers-tourists-article-1.1139028#ixzz245ql7fG8

Casino will empty local pockets

Casino will empty local pockets: Brent Larkin

Published: Saturday, August 18, 2012

By Brent Larkin, The Plain DealerThe Plain Dealer

Of the millions of words written in this newspaper and others about the arrival of casino gambling in Ohio, eight stand out.

They weren't about the dress code at downtown Cleveland's Horseshoe Casino, how much the dealers earn in tips or the food in the buffet.

No, the most important eight words ever written about the Cleveland casino were contained in a story on the opening night festivities by Plain Dealer reporter Thomas Ott.

As part of that May 15 piece, Ott wrote about a woman named Gayle Crowell who had waited in line for hours to be one of the first through the doors when the casino opened. In previous years, Crowell said she made about two trips a year to play slot machines at casinos in bordering states. Then, seemingly excited at the prospect of having a casino so close to home, this woman in her 50s, a cleaner at a hospital, said:

"I'm going to be here all the time."   

One of the arguments in favor of bringing casino gambling to Ohio was that it would merely keep money in the state that was already being gambled elsewhere. But the argument is actually a half-truth disguised as fact.

Because no matter how anyone might define "all the time," it sure means a whole lot more than twice a year.

John Warren Kindt, a professor of business administration at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a nationally recognized expert on casino gambling, said the argument used by many that casino gambling is keeping money in the state is "kind of silly," adding:

"If it's in your backyard, the accessibility factor draws in a whole lot of local residents who would never leave the state to gamble. When you put a casino in a place like downtown Cleveland, you're going to literally double down on the number of local people who come to gamble."

The benefits a downtown casino brings to Cleveland and the region are obvious and irrefutable:

Sixteen hundred jobs (most are low-paying, forcing employees to rely on tips from customers), a total of perhaps $30 million annually in taxes to the city and county, and an attraction that lures people to a downtown and nearby neighborhoods enjoying some undeniable momentum.

Here's the flip side:

Three hundred million dollars.

That's the amount people are likely to lose at the casino during its first year of operation -- and probably every year that follows.

The casino made a gross profit in June and July, its first two full months of operation, of $50 million.

That's the total money gambled, minus money paid out to casino patrons.

The monthly take will vary over time, sometimes a lot. But, for now, it seems reasonable to suggest that the casino's net annual take from gamblers will be about $300 million -- or $1 billion every 40 months.

Make no mistake where all this gaming money is coming from. Almost all of that $300 million or more each year in losses at the downtown casino will originate in the pockets of Northeast Ohio residents.

"The ideal situation is to have a casino that draws primarily from outside its jurisdiction," said William Eadington, an economics professor and head of the University of Nevada, Reno's Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming. "Cleveland will absolutely not draw a lot of visitors from outside the region."

Said Kindt, "They're [the casino owners] going to take millions and millions out of the local economy -- more than they're putting in."

With slot machines soon to open at area horse racing tracks and Internet sweepstakes storefronts already in operation, that drain on the economy will get worse -- maybe much worse.

So, is it worth it?

We know it's good public policy to have a new business in the heart of downtown that generates lots of tax revenue, creates 1,600 new jobs, and has a spinoff impact that helps nearby businesses.

Just like we know it's bad public policy to have an activity that drains nearly $300 million each year from the pockets of residents who already live in a community suffering from significant unemployment and poverty.

Lots of smart people -- people who care a great deal about Greater Cleveland and its future -- think that, on balance, the downtown casino will be a good thing.

I hope they're right.

But I think they're wrong. And explaining why is simple.

"I'm going to be here all the time."



http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/08/casino_will_empty_local_pocket.html

Foxborough: How much will it cost?

The Wynn/Kraft machine has gone into overdrive to cram their Folly down the throats of vocal oppopnents.

Tossing out unsubstantiated numbers, who is asking what the costs will be?

Public safety - police, fire and ambulance - are significantly impacted.

Free Alcohol increases DRUNK DRIVERS - a given elsewhere.

Additional traffic increases accidents (and residents' insuruance costs).

Where will those low wage workers live? Where will the children of those low wage workers attend school? Will they affect ESL costs as they have in Connecticut?

What will the burden of increased crime cost local departments since Gambling Addiction escalates within a 50 mile radius?

This is a page from the Casino Playbook!


Advocates: It pays to have a casino
BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

Kraft Group estimate: 'Minimum of $10M' in annual tax revenues
FOXBORO - An estimate that a proposed billion-dollar resort casino complex could generate $10 million in annual tax revenues is fetching mixed reactions amid calls for a non-binding referendum on the casino question.

Dan Krantz, the Kraft Group director of site development, said in a statement that the project proposed by Las Vegas casino and hotel titan Steve Wynn has the potential to generate "a minimum of $10 million annually" in tax revenue that could be used toward schools and services or to lower property taxes.

The resort would be built on land currently owned by Kraft.

Krantz said the estimate is part of the response to requests for more details regarding the casino proposal.

"We have been consistently asked by town officials to bring specific - not abstract - proposals forward so that the town can exercise its traditional process for vetting them," he said. "That is precisely what we are trying to do with this opportunity." The $10 million figure does not include other potential streams of revenue such as personal property and meals taxes.

The Wynn proposal, which would also include hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities, has ignited a storm of controversy and comments both for and against.

Selectman Chairman Lawrence Harrington said that based on information that has been presented so far the $10 million estimate appears to be "in the ballpark."

However he said he feels that is a conservative figure and that the town's share of additional meals tax revenues and property taxes on equipment could add significantly to that amount.

However Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said it would be hard to verify the project's tax benefits without more specific information about the proposal.

Casino opponents say money that would come from property development related to the casino is only one aspect of the proposal and that the project would bring about radical changes in the town. Fears raised by some critical of the project include the prospect of additional crime, traffic and town increased town expenditures needed for public safety protection. "It all sounds wonderful when you listen to these dazzling promises," said Stephanie Crimmins, a casino opposition leader. "But if this goes through what is really left of the character of the town? It would cause fundamental changes to what we love about Foxboro."

Selectman James DeVellis said any estimates of potential benefits are "speculative" so soon after the passage of state legislation last month authorizing casino gambling.

"The ink on the legislation is still wet and nobody should be offering or accepting any figures as fact in good conscience," he said.

The town's tax rate is currently $13.73 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for residences and $14.86 per $1,000 for commercial. At the higher commercial rate the annual tax on $1 billion worth of real estate would be $14.86 million.

But experts note that the construction cost of commercial property is not necessarily the same as its assessed value used to calculate tax bills.

Additional details about the casino are expected at a Jan. 10 meeting where selectmen will allow Wynn to lay out a more detailed plan. However some residents and town officials want to hold a plebiscite before any presentation to gauge support or opposition.

The Advisory Committee voted 11-0 Wednesday to ask selectmen to reconsider the date for the presentation in order to schedule a non-binding referendum.

Selectman Mark Sullivan says he supports the idea of a vote.

"I'm more concerned with what the town wants than any revenue stream," said Sullivan.

Harrington said he's not opposed to a referendum but that Wynn's presentation should come first to allow additional information to come forward.

"Within a short time after the presentation I'd be in favor of a ballot question," he said.


Ads put out by Wynn consultants
BY MATT KAKLEY SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

FOXBORO - Full-page advertisements supporting a proposed Route 1 casino, taken out in Thursday's edition of The Sun Chronicle and its sister publication, The Foxboro Reporter, were paid for by a Boston-based political consulting firm hired by the casino developer pushing the project.

Frank Perullo, principal and owner of Sage Systems, paid for the ads, which carried the name "Jobs for Foxboro" and urged residents to wait for design and economic details before making up their minds of the hot-button issue.

In a statement, Wynn Resorts acknowledged hiring Sage Systems to help with the communication effort in Foxboro.

"Sage Systems is working with local residents who are interested in supporting Wynn in Foxboro, by providing them fact-based information about the destination resort project," the statement said.

It was just two weeks ago today that news broke of a proposed resort casino venture, to be developed by casino magnate Steve Wynn on land leased from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. In the advertisements, Jobs for Foxboro lists a Foxboro post office box and names Dan Flynn, a union carpenter who lives in town, as chairman.

The group staged a rally prior to Tuesday's Foxboro selectmen meeting, drawing around 100 casino supporters, many of who were union construction workers who said the jobs are desperately needed in the area.

Employees of Sage Systems were on hand at Tuesday's rally, handing out signs and other materials to people entering the meeting.

Jobs for Foxboro registered accounts on Twitter and Facebook on Sunday, but its website, www.jobsforfoxboro.com, remained under construction Thursday.

By Thursday afternoon, Jobs for Foxboro had not registered as a political action committee with either the town or state.

A request for comment from Perullo was not immediately returned and a phone listing for Flynn could not be found. According to its website, Sage Systems was founded in 2002 and offers a host of services for political campaigns, including consulting and technical services, website design and data analysis.

Among its clients, the company lists U.S. Sen. John Kerry, U.S. Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, and Michael Capuano, D-Somerville, Gov. Deval Patrick, state Senate President Therese Murray, the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and governors and political parties across the country.

Among local campaigns, Sage Systems worked on Leland Cheung's successful re-election bid for the Cambridge City Council, as well as former Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty's unsuccessful attempt to get back on that board.

The company has also designed websites for candidates, including Boston City Councilor Michael Ross and state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz.

Since it became public, the casino issue has stirred up controversy among residents in town, with groups in favor and against the project holding rallies in town.

Selectmen have scheduled a public forum on the issue for Jan. 10 at Foxboro High School.

Illinois: No casino gambling on state fairgrounds

Letter: No casino gambling on state fairgrounds

Remember how politicians said the lottery would help education? Now, Springfield legislators want to put a casino at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and want you to believe it will help the fair break even. Don’t be fooled again!

With talk of a Springfield casino in 1994, 90 percent of Sangamon County voters approved a citizen referendum asking for a vote before gambling was expanded in the county. We need to speak out now while we still can. There is a big difference between betting on horse racing five days a year during the state fair and gambling on slot machines seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Slot machines account for 87 percent of the revenue at Illinois’ riverboat casinos. SB 744 also allows racetrack casinos to have slot machines that simulate table games, thus turning every slot machine into a virtual table game. SB 744 will transform the fairgrounds racetrack into a land-based casino.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission found the presence of a gambling facility within 50 miles doubles the prevalence of problem and problem gambling. A casino in Springfield will increase crime, bankruptcy and addiction in surrounding communities, too.

If you do not want casino gambling at the state fairgrounds, call Sen. Larry Bomke (782-0228) and Rep. Raymond Poe (782-0897) and ask Gov. Pat Quinn (782-6830) to veto SB 744.

— Anita Bedell, executive director, Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems, Springfield

Vibrating Seats?

Future casinos spur addiction concerns
Critics expect rise in compulsive gambling
BY TYREL LINKHORN
BLADE STAFF WRITER

In his treatment of gambling addicts, Dr. Timothy Fong has heard the stories of people who crave gambling the moment they wake, who are able to stay up 36 hours straight to place wagers, and even would rather gamble than have sex.

Gambling addicts don't look like junkies, and the depth of their addiction doesn't show on their faces. Instead, it's hidden away in their finances and relationships.

These people will sell their possessions, steal from family members, and rack up debts they'll never cover -- just for the high of pulling the lever or placing a bet. Gambling goes from fun to compulsion.

"Compulsive gambling is all consuming," Dr. Fong said. "It's damaging beyond belief and they continue to gamble. It's no longer about fun. Gambling becomes about escaping life's problems, desperation, the need to feel normal, taking away the urges and the itch to gamble."

Dr. Fong is the co-director of the University of California-Los Angeles Gambling Studies Program, a pioneering effort that examines the causes and course of gambling addiction and develops evidence-based treatment to address it.

The prevalence of what addiction specialists call pathological gambling is low -- probably less than 2 percent of the nationwide population fits the clinical diagnosis. But the costs associated with pathological gambling can be incredibly high.

"It doesn't look like it's that huge an issue if you look at those numbers. [But] it only takes one guy like [former Ohio State quarterback] Art Schlichter to affect 30 to 40 people and squander $10 million. It doesn't take a lot of problem gamblers to create a really, really big financial mess," said Scott Anderson, problem gambling coordinator with the Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services.

New casinos

Studies have found compulsive gamblers are more likely than the general population to declare bankruptcy, have higher rates of unemployment, and carry higher loads of debt.

For states though, casino chips are often viewed as magical beans that can sprout millions in new revenue and stabilize shaky budgets.

That was part of the message behind the successful 2009 drive to bring Las Vegas-style gambling to Ohio: We'll bring construction work, tax dollars, and thousands of permanent jobs.

But experts say the casinos are likely to sow a new crop of problem gamblers.

Less than a year before the casinos open, treatment providers aren't sure how to prepare.

Substance Abuse Services Inc. in Toledo might treat 20 to 30 people a year for gambling addictions, which often are paired with other mental disorders or addictions. It's the expectation of Director Al Woods that more people gambling will lead to more people developing gambling problems, and in turn more people seeking help.

"The question is, are those people around here?" he asked.

Penn National Gaming Inc., developer of Toledo's $300 million Hollywood Casino, has said it expects a market radius of 90 miles.

A nationwide study on gambling habits conducted in 1999 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago showed the prevalence of pathological gamblers among those who live within 50 miles of a casino are nearly double the rate of those who live farther away.

More recently, researchers have questioned whether the difference remains that large with the proliferation of online gambling. The study, although more than a decade old, is still a gold-standard measure for gambling behavior in America. But no definitive study has been conducted on how many more problem or pathological gamblers might come from the casinos in Toledo, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, or where they might be concentrated.

But Rob Walgate, vice president of American Policy Roundtable, an anti-gambling group, argues that damage will be done and much of it will hit closest to home. "What happens when these casinos pop up in markets? You're opening the ability for people who can least afford it to gamble. People who didn't have the ability to travel to another area to go to a casino now have the ability to gamble," he said.

An evolving issue

Gambling has come a long way from the stereotypical smoke-filled seedy saloon and into the mainstream. Twenty-two states allow casino gambling, and, according to the American Gaming Association, a quarter of Americans have gambled at a casino in the last 12 months.

Likewise, the way we look at problem gamblers has evolved. They used to be seen as having a dearth of willpower and weak moral fiber.

The addiction is reaching a medical parity with drugs and alcohol. Pathological gambling has been added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the clinicians' bible for making diagnoses. Gambling is the only recognized nonchemical addiction.

Experts say pathological gambling, like other medical and psychological conditions, shows up only with the right mix of biological, psychological, and social-risk factors. That includes how a person is programed to deal with risk-taking, chance, and wins and losses, how gambling is used to deal with stress or conflict, and how available gambling is.

But some people argue there's more to it than that.

Mr. Anderson of the Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services said the science that goes into the newest era of slot machines, with lights bright enough to excite but not too bright to fatigue and seats that vibrate to connect the player to the game, is fascinating but scary.

"Their goal is to make you play faster, longer, and more," he said.

'Recreation dollars'

Warning signs: Are you hooked on gambling?

Although there are few outward signs of problem or pathological gambling, Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of the UCLA Gambling
Studies Program, said the people themselves often know when they have a problem.
“It begins to screw up their lives in ways that are very obvious to them. They start doing things they wouldn’t normally do: lying, hiding, cheating,” he said.

Ultimately, people lose the fun in gambling but still feel compelled to do so.

Here are 10 signs of a pathological gambling problem:

•You
have often gambled longer than you had planned.

•You have often
gambled until your last dollar was gone.

•Thoughts of gambling have
caused you to lose sleep.

•You have used your income or savings to
gamble while letting bills go unpaid.

•You have made repeated,
unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling.

•You have broken the law or considered breaking the law to finance your gambling.

•You have borrowed to finance your gambling.

•You have felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling losses.

•You have been remorseful after gambling.

•You have gambled to get money to meet your
financial obligations.

Source: The National Council on Problem Gambling

Availability

Dr. Fong said when casino gambling first came to Biloxi, Miss., and Detroit, problem-gambling prevalence rates for those living within 50 miles of the casinos went as high as 10 to 15 percent in the first three to five years but then fell back to the more standard 2 to 4 percent range.

Some older studies show that problems are more likely to spike when casinos are introduced to a gambling-naive area, but gambling isn't new to Ohio. It has horse tracks, the Ohio Lottery, weekly poker games, church bingo, and Internet cafes. Even casinos aren't the novelties they once were; most Ohioans live within a couple hours of a gambling house.

Still, Dr. Fong said the rates of problem gambling ultimately will have some correlation with the ease of gambling.

"Just like if we were to have cocaine available in every 7-Eleven, we'd have more cocaine problems. It's just availability and access. If you have more brick-and-mortar casinos, more online casinos, more access to credit, you're going to have a recipe of more people engaging in the behavior and we're probably going to have more people developing these problems," he said.

Cost of treatment

"To treat those people, it's going to take thousands of dollars. It's not going to take hundreds of dollars per addict. It's going to take thousands per addict. It's going to be a big number," Mr. Walgate, the gambling opponent, said.

And that's a point upon which there seems to be a consensus: Treatment has been badly underfunded.

The Ohio Lottery Commission gives $335,000 a year to the Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services for problem-gambling services. That pays for six treatment programs statewide, including Substance Abuse Services Inc., and covers six gambling counselor training sessions by the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio.

According to researchers from Cleveland State University, that's not nearly enough. In a 2005 study, they concluded that mitigating gambling issues would require nearly $22.9 million. If casino gambling were allowed, the study's authors said several million dollars more would be necessary. There's more money coming, but not that much.

Included in the constitutional amendment Ohio voters passed in 2009 is a provision that 2 percent of the tax collected from the casino operators will go to a state problem gambling and addictions fund managed by the Ohio Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services. Casino officials estimate that will amount to between $10 million and $12 million a year once all four sites are up and running.

State health officials say that will bolster the treatment programs, but with no solid data to fall back on, they're not sure how much they'll need.

"We don't know what enough is," Mr. Anderson said.

The Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Services hopes to increase the budgets and services at the state's treatment centers. But until the money starts rolling in, officials are hesitant to budget any of it. Compounding the questions is the amendment's official language. It says the money will be used for "treatment of problem gambling and substance abuse and related research," not just gambling specifically.

"That's really, really broad," said Jenny Campbell-Roux, a Dayton-area addictions counselor and director of the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio. "We're going to have to work hard to make sure a good portion of it is dedicated just to problem gambling."

It'll be up to the state Casino Control Commission to decide how that pot of money gets divided.

The commission is still working through all sorts of issues -- from casino security to card counting -- and Chairman Jo Ann Davidson said problem gambling remains a top concern. It also will be a top concern when splitting the money, but she wouldn't be more specific.

"I don't want to get into percentages, but I think this will be the key factor when we negotiate with ODADS [Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services]."

Regulations

The Hollywood Casino is taking shape in East Toledo near Rossford. No definitive study can predict how many problem or pathological gamblers might be created when new casinos open for business. Also yet to be written are the problem-gambling regulations that apply to the casinos themselves.

The two casino operators -- Penn National in Toledo and Columbus and Rock Ohio Caesars in Cleveland and Cincinnati -- will be required to post a gambling help-line number throughout their four casinos and on advertising materials. Ms. Davidson said the commission is likely to require them to use the Cleveland-based hot line the Ohio Lottery Commission already contracts with, spending about $34,000 annually. The chairman said she and her colleagues believe having more familiarity with available resources will better serve callers.

"We want to make this very state specific," she said.

Penn National also has self-exclusion lists, which allow individuals effectively to bar themselves from gambling in a Penn National casino. If the person is recognized, the casino must turn him or her away. The laws vary from state to state, though most require the confiscation of jackpots and some allow the arrests of violators. Mr. Baldacci and Ms. Davidson said those rules in Ohio are still evolving. Aside from state law, Mr. Baldacci said Penn National also follows the American Gaming Association's code of conduct for responsible gaming.

Among the requirements: Everyone who works at a Penn National casino is trained to look for overt signs of problem gambling and report up the chain if they see someone they suspect is playing irresponsibly.

Much of what the company does must start with the gamblers themselves. People can opt out of receiving promotional material from the casino and can place financial restrictions on themselves, for example, being unable to to cash checks or get casino credit.

Study: More Slot Barns, more gambling addicts

Study: More casinos, more gambling addicts
By Eric Peterson

One university study shows that living near a casino can as much as double your likelihood of becoming addicted to gambling.

It’s a temptation that may become stronger for some existing gambling addicts in the Northwest suburbs with the recent opening of the new Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.


And it’s a temptation that could spread even further through a plan to significantly expand gambling in Illinois — with tens of thousands of video poker machines coming soon to social establishments, and the possibility of five more casinos and slot machines at racetracks.

But experts say it’s individuals, not the state, who ultimately are responsible to take whatever steps are necessary to resist the temptation.

“It’s dependent upon the individual, and how serious they are about making the changes they need to make in their lives to abstain,” said Steven Hart, president of the Illinois Council on Problem Gambling.

Hart said his organization — while striving to provide a public voice for the issues of the problem gambler — is neutral on gambling expansion.

Just as Prohibition was not a practical solution to problem drinking, eradication of gambling opportunities is viewed as an unrealistic approach to problem gambling, Hart said.

Much like the alcoholic has to live in a world filled with bars and liquor stores, the gambling addict has to find a way to maintain control in a world of casinos and race tracks, he added.

For some recovering addicts, the sudden proximity of a new casino may present a problem. But those addicts probably already know who they are and should be taking steps or engaging professional help.

“We would work out how you’re going to handle the new situation,” Hart said.

A study published in 2005 by John W. Welte of the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions indicates the chance of becoming a gambling addict doubles if you live within 10 miles of a casino.

According to the study, someone living within 10 miles has a 7 percent risk of becoming a problem gambler — as defined by particular behavior patterns — compared to an approximately 3.5 percent risk among those 10 or more miles away.

He’s the first to admit, though, that the study is based purely on statistical data and doesn’t account for other individual traits that would make one more or less likely to become addicted to gambling.

In the dozen years since Welte’s data was collected, gambling has expanded. He is now engaged in a follow-up study to compare new data to the old. But many areas that were more than 10 miles from a casino then are no longer. Welte’s own office is now only a little more than a mile from a casino that didn’t exist when he conducted his first study.

“It’s making it more convenient,” Welte said of the way gambling opportunities are changing in the country. “And if it’s more convenient, more people are going to be getting into trouble.”

Self-exclusion from casinos, a program offered by the Illinois Gaming Board, is an opportunity many problem gamblers take advantage of, said program Director Gene O’Shea.

Under the self-exclusion program, problem gamblers risk arrest and the forfeiture of all winnings if they’re caught on the grounds of a casino.

People from many Illinois towns, as well as locations around the nation, are represented on the gaming board’s self-exclusion list. There are, in fact, 36 residents of Des Plaines already registered. Chicago has 385 people on the list. St. Louis has the most, with 927.

But even gambling addicts who signed up for self-exclusion in a rational moment may later get the irrational urge to sneak into a casino.

“They’re a lot better at catching people than they used to be,” said Scott Damiani, a recovering problem gambler who is head of the speakers bureau for the education-oriented Outreach Foundation.

For example, he said, casinos have become savvy about checking their surveillance videos to make sure that people cashing in large winnings are those who actually won them.

A review of Elgin police reports shows self-banned players occasionally being arrested at the city’s Grand Victoria Casino.

Damiani, 70, of Downers Grove, said he hasn’t made a bet in 17 years.

Proximity to a casino might add temptation for a problem gambler because it makes it easier to account for one’s time to others, Damiani said. But for someone in the throes of addiction, distance is no obstacle, he added.

His strongest advice for those recovering from a gambling addiction is to avoid temptation. Gambling addicts should avoid going to dinner at casinos. Sports gamblers should avoid sporting events. Recovering problem gamblers should certainly not seek employment at a casino.

Damiani said he doesn’t even buy charitable raffle tickets anymore but simply makes a donation to the organization without receiving a ticket.

“The worst thing that could happen is that I would win, and would start gambling all over again,” Damiani said.

The proximity of temptation can be a danger for all addicts.

Kathy Rein, who’s the gambling addiction specialist for The SHARE Program in Hoffman Estates, said some members of her women’s group swear they would never have developed a problem if there wasn’t a casino near their homes.

She said some of the gambling addicts she treats say they’re already experiencing some disquiet about Rivers Casino — not because of where it is but because everybody’s talking about it and its billboards and advertisements are springing up everywhere.

If the possibility of an extensive expansion of gambling in Illinois comes true, such pressures will become even more prevalent, Damiani said.

But even as Gov. Pat Quinn considers whether to sign a bill allowing five new casinos and slots at racetracks, Illinois ranks notoriously low in its funding for treatment for addicts, Rein said.

Should Parx Slot Barn be liable in child-neglect cases?

Should Parx Casino be liable in child-neglect cases?
By Suzette Parmley
Inquirer Staff Writer

Profits and parenting are on a collision course at Parx Casino. Becoming the quintessential "neighborhood casino" has given Parx the dubious distinction of being the only gambling hall in Pennsylvania where adults have been caught leaving children in vehicles parked outside while they gambled inside.

The increasingly tense clash of parental responsibility and casino accountability could be taken up Aug. 18 before the state Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg.

Thus far, no fines have been levied on Parx because of recurring incidents of child neglect by its patrons. "But the board requested a plan of action to mitigate this problem, and the board reviews any subsequent occurrences to assure that the casino is fulfilling their plan of action," said gaming board spokesman Doug Harbach.

On Friday, former Gov. Ed Rendell, who seven years ago signed the law bringing casinos to Pennsylvania, said: "The gaming board should enact the most significant fines they can under the law for allowing such a situation to occur."

At 2999 Street Rd. in Bensalem, Parx sits in the middle of a highly congested thoroughfare at the heart of a heavily populated community. Observers say it is this proximity to shopping centers, convenience stores, restaurants, and apartments that makes it a prime spot for parental lapses.

A short drive to the Wawa for bread or milk, a quick trip to fill up at one of the many local gas stations, can easily turn into a gambling outing, they say. Parx is literally "on the way," and temptation can become all too irresistible.

"If parents are in the throes of pathological gambling, who knows what the mind-set is?" said Jim Pappas, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling in Pennsylvania. "They become totally neglectful of the circumstances around them. It's like they have tunnel vision."

Other Pennsylvania casinos, by contrast, are more isolated from neighborhood comings and goings. Harrah's in Chester, for example, sits on an industrial strip away from homes and schools and has an indoor parking garage. Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem occupies the former Bethlehem Steel Plant site; I-78 takes customers directly to its enclosed parking garage.

Meadows Racetrack and Casino near Pittsburgh and Hollywood Casino just outside Harrisburg are also in remote locations. Like Parx, both have open surface parking lots, but there have been no arrests of adults who have left children in cars outside.

Drive time has everything to do with becoming addicted, according to a 1999 report by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which is considered to be the bible on compulsive gambling.

Availability and accessibility are linked, said the report, noting that those who lived within a 50-mile radius of a casino were more than twice as likely to develop significant problems as those who lived between 50 and 250 miles away.

"When you bring a casino that much closer, you're able to visit more frequently and play longer, and it's a lot harder to quit," said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, in Washington. "There's probably an increase in severity of addiction. It impacts things like relapse."

Since 2004, when Pennsylvania opened its borders to gambling to keep residents and casino revenue from flowing to Atlantic City, 10 casinos have opened, with an 11th set to debut next year in Valley Forge.

But lawmakers blinded by gross revenue from slots - more than $2.3 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, with $1.3 billion in tax revenue going to the state - apparently never saw this sort of thing coming.

In the last 17 months alone, Parx - Pennsylvania's top-grossing casino - saw 10 individuals arrested on its property and charged with endangering the welfare of children left in vehicles while the adults gambled inside.

In just the last week: Michael Roytman, 29, of Huntingdon Valley was charged with leaving his 6-year-old daughter in his car in sweltering heat and was jailed after failing to post $75,000 bail; Frances Casey, 39, of Abington, was charged in connection with leaving two nephews, ages 1 and 2, and a 9-year-old niece in her automobile July 16. She is to be issued a court summons.

Parx is taking action on the matter, said casino spokeswoman Carrie Nork-Minelli.

"This is the action of irresponsible adults, and we do our best to combat it with the highest level of security and surveillance possible," she said. "We've added additional security teams and patrol units - that are not required by the Gaming Control Board - to help with this type of deplorable activity."

But the most recent incidents have occurred despite those stepped-up measures.

"The question arises: How is it that any adult can be so consumed with gambling that the welfare of the child is ignored?" State Rep. Paul Clymer (R., Bucks), a staunch critic of gambling, wrote Tuesday in a letter addressed to Gaming Control Board executive director Kevin O'Toole.

Clymer urged the board to open an investigation into Parx's ongoing child-abandonment troubles.

Those charged with leaving children unattended have been placed on an exclusion list at Parx and are barred from the property.

But that's not nearly enough, say addiction counselors such as Jeffrey Beck, clinical director at the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey. Many of Parx's patrons come from the Garden State, traveling there easily via the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge or the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge.

"The better course is to treat them as with an illness . . . ," Beck said. "It's an impulse-control disorder - you have the urge to do something despite knowing the negative consequences."

And if one is in the grip of gambling addiction, Beck urged: "The first thing to do is to take care of the kids, and to have at least some type of a safety plan of where to put them. Maybe have a family member to drop them off to."

Gambling Industry Contributes Big in Illinois

Gambling Industry Contributes Big in Illinois
Mark Wachtler, Chicago Independent Examiner


Chicago. The Chicago Tribune released excerpts of a study done by the paper detailing the money given to Illinois politicians by the gambling industry yesterday. The report also looked at the correlation between those elected officials who received money and those who didn’t, versus those who voted for the massive expansion of gambling in Illinois and those who didn’t. What they found since the beginning of 2010 wasn’t surprising.

According to the numbers released in yesterday’s Sunday Chicago Tribune, nearly 75 percent of Illinois state legislators who received funding from gambling companies and their lobbyists also voted in favor of the largest gambling expansion in Illinois history. And to add profit to politics, those that voted in favor of the massive gambling bill also received an average of 60 percent more money than those who refused to help the gambling industry expand in Illinois.

The report showed that the gambling industry wasn’t partisan either. They gave to Republicans and Democrats alike. Not surprisingly, party leaders received the most during the past 18 months. Here are the top recipients of gambling contributions over that time period:

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) - $122,200
Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) - $91,500
House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) - $75,034
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) - $73,953
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) - $54,400.
Other high-ranking government officials who also received gambling money including Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

While critics argue that such contributions should be illegal as in some other states, gambling industry lobbyists argue differently. The Tribune quotes Wade Duty, executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association saying, “Donations come with the expectation of access, but not support. It will likely grant you a greater degree of influence.” Louisiana banned gambling contributions in the mid-1990’s. Six states in all ban such donations.

Other critics of gambling expansion have added their voices also, some from the past. Most upsetting to Chicago residents is the legalization of neighborhood gambling – slot machines inside every store, bar, restaurant and club. It’s called ‘convenience gambling’ and anti-gambling activists cite it as the most destructive form of the addictive pastime.


Slate.com describes it like this, “Experts deplore convenience gambling. It is extremely dangerous to addicts. Every trip to the store becomes a temptation. Video poker, which is fast and requires skill, is known as "video crack" because it is by far the most addictive form of gambling.”

They went on to say, “Most alarmingly, convenience gambling exacts huge social costs in the form of addiction and financial hardship without providing any economic benefit. Unlike casino gambling, convenience gambling does not bring with it hotels, restaurants, tourists, or good jobs.” "There is no pretense that this is about tourism or about a nice night out or this is entertainment. This is hard-core, grab-the-paycheck gambling" said Tom Grey, founder of the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.

GamblingExposed.org also gives us the following statistics regarding neighborhood gambling:

Bankruptcy rates average approximately 18 percent higher in casino communities.
Local businesses, especially restaurants, will show a significant decrease in sales.
Gambling addictions will increase by approximately 10 percent within a 50 mile radius.

Social costs of gambling consume at least $3 for every $1 generated.
While critics and supporters alike argue over the merits of expanded gambling in Chicago and throughout Illinois, the state legislature will continue to wait for Senate President Cullerton to release the gambling expansion legislation. While the bill has already been passed by both houses, Cullerton has refused to release it to Governor Quinn for his signature, or possible veto. While supportive of expanded gambling in Illinois, the Governor has publically denounced the massive level of the expansion. Whether or not the Governor vetoes the legislation remains to be seen.

Maryland Shirks Responsibility

Maryland to fund gambling addiction programs
State to train counselors, promote toll-free help line
By Annie Linskey, The Baltimore Sun

With two casinos operating in Maryland and more on the horizon, state officials on Thursday unveiled new programs — including training counselors and promoting a toll-free help line — to strengthen the social safety net for people addicted to betting.

The programs, overseen by the new Maryland Alliance for Responsible Gambling, mark the first major influx of state money for gambling addiction since the mid-1980s. And they present an intriguing paradox: The presence of casinos in Maryland might, in a backhanded way, provide help for problem gamblers.

"This is an effort that is long overdue," said Del. Kirill Reznik, a Montgomery County Democrat. He noted that state residents have been encouraged to bet for years on Keno, Powerball, instant lottery games and, of course, at the racetracks.

Mental health advocates agree. They've said the problem here has been ignored, in part because gambling is not as obvious an addiction as alcoholism or drug abuse.

The advocates note that Maryland has only two nationally certified gambling addiction counselors and half the state's counties do not have anyone with even cursory training in gambling addiction. An existing help line is so poorly promoted that one advocate said it is practically a secret.

"We would say that the state of Maryland has shirked its responsibility," said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. "They are either ignorant of the true rate of gambling problems in Maryland, or they are indifferent."

The prospect that casinos would cause a spike in social ills — divorce, bankruptcy and crime — was a key reason many Maryland lawmakers gave for opposing state-sponsored gambling. So far there's been no evidence that the two casinos have frayed the social fabric in their communities, though experts say it will take years to know the impact of gambling.

The 2007 state law that laid the groundwork for five casinos included provisions for stemming gambling addiction. Gamblers have already lost $77 million playing slots here.

Maryland will use some of that revenue to pay for and promote a toll-free help line, the state's health department will train substance abuse counselors to treat gambling addiction, and the department will make some money available to pay for treating the uninsured.

The Maryland Lottery is adding resources, too. The agency paid for a website with information about problem gambling and will put the help line's 1-800 number on all tickets.

"It is not in anyone's interest to have people with a gambling problem in casinos," said Stephen L. Martino, director of the lottery agency. A pathological gambler — one who can't stop betting — can cost the state about $12,000 in social services costs, according to a 2008 University of Maryland study on the impacts of slots.

The agency is also overseeing an "opt-out" program that allows self-identified addicts to ban themselves from casinos. Anyone on the list caught on the gambling floor will be charged with trespassing and any winnings will be confiscated.

The opt-out program was officially launched Thursday, but 12 people had already signed up. The idea is modeled after programs in other states. Pennsylvania, with five casinos, has 2,100 people on its list, Martino said.

Maryland has a toll-free number for gambling addiction, but it's not funded through the state. Calls are routed to a national center in Shreveport, La., where staff have a list of counselors or can refer people to free support groups.

In the first 10 months of last year there were 3,000 calls from Marylanders, said Joanna Franklin, president of the Maryland Council on Problem Gambling. "At this time we are operating something that looks like a secret help line," Franklin said.

She does not yet have data from November, after the first casino opened, but she does not expect the numbers to change significantly.

The largest chunk of calls — 936 — came from Baltimore, where a 3,750-machine casino is planned. Typical calls come from wives worried about their husband's habits, or siblings who say they can't continue to bail out a brother or sister.

Experts say the severity of problem gambling tends to increase within a 50-mile radius of a casino. "The more access you have to higher stakes and higher-speed gambling, the worse your problems are going to get," said Whyte, with the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene surveyed state residents to determine a pre-casino baseline of gambling habits. Preliminary results show that 90 percent of those surveyed have gambled at least once in their lives, and just over 15 percent gamble once a week.

The same study — conducted a month before the first casino opened in Perryville in October — identified 2.5 percent to 4 percent of respondents as problem gamblers. Those are people who will "chase their winnings" and continue to bet even after they've lost more than they can afford.

Those results mirror national data, experts say. The study will be done again in five years to look for trends.

Local officials in Perryville and Berlin, where the Ocean Downs casino opened in February, have not detected any spike in gambling-related social ills such as divorce, bankruptcy or theft.

But local officials and mental health experts say that six months of casino play is too soon to know what and where the negative impacts will be.

Those seeking information about gambling addictions can call 1-800-522-4700 or visit http://www.mdgamblinghelp.org.

The 50 Mile Rule

Former addict: New casino poses threat for problem gamblers

By LISA ERMAK
The Holland Sentinel


Holland, MI — Michael Burke had to hit rock bottom before he realized he was gambling his life away.

The Michigan native now is a motivational speaker in the field of cross-addiction and compulsive gambling. He lectures nationally on the devastation of trading addictions, something he knows a lot about because he got into it 10 years ago.

After Burke recovered from alcoholism, gambling came next, and his 26-year-long career as an attorney came to a halt once he started stealing money from his clients’ trust accounts and gambled his children’s college funds dry.

“I really loved the high life of gambling, and I would go to Las Vegas once a year and gamble my brains out. I loved everything about it. It was exactly like drinking for me.”

In 2001, Burke turned himself in and was sentenced to three years in Jackson State Prison and was ordered to repay a sum of $1.6 million.

“I went from being a social gambler to a compulsive gambler in about three to four years,” he said.

Although stories like Burke’s only afflict just about 2 to 4 percent of the population, that’s a big number of people. In Michigan, it’s about 350,000 people.

Patrick Witri, president of the Michigan Association On Problem Gambling, said with the new Gun Lake Casino open in Wayland, more people in West Michigan will be exposed to the dark side of gambling.

According to a study by Western Michigan University, for 96 percent of the population, gambling is a perfectly reasonable recreational activity, but for others it can be devastating.

It’s something he and other industry professionals attribute to the 50-mile rule.

Every time a new venue is opened, problems associated with problem gambling will double within a 50- to 60-mile radius of the casino.

Those problems take the form of white-collar crimes, such as embezzlement, spousal abuse and child abuse.

“What happens when a new casino opens is those who haven’t been inclined to travel for a casino, will,” Witri said.

“It’s like a new mall opening up, people say, ‘Hey, let’s go down there.’”

Then the fun of the game quickly spirals into an addiction, but it takes folks a little while to get to that point.

“We won’t see the problems (in West Michigan) for about three to four years,” Burke said.

“You can’t smell a deck of cards on a compulsive gambler.”