History of Gambling

Real costs for everyone

Gambling costs more than raising taxes, even for those who NEVER gamble! Each compulsive gambler costs the economy between $14,006 and $22,077 per year.[i] If 2% become addicted, that’s $280 to $440 per year paid by every other citizen!

Trading jobs kills development

Most casinos attract 80% or more of their market from a 35-50 mile radius. Casinos absorb existing entertainment, restaurant and hotel business, and deplete dollars available to other retail businesses. That destroys other jobs in the trade area and eliminates their sales, employment and property tax contributions.[ii]

Illegal gambling remains

Legalizing gambling does not reduce illegal gambling.[iii] Legalized gambling may even increase illegal gambling because untaxed illegal operators may offer better odds, bigger payoffs and loans that legal operations cannot. Patrons in gambling states feel gambling is generally legal and they are less averse to gambling in unlicensed establishments. Law enforcement in gambling states see illegal gambling as a state revenue issue rather than a criminal activity, and may be less motivated to investigate.

Gambling brings addiction

When gambling appears in a community, it brings a wave of addiction. In a mature gambling market, compulsive gambling typically seizes the lives of 1.5% to 2.5% of the adult population. That amounts to three to five times the number of people suffering from cancer.
“Gambling is an addictive behavior, make no mistake about it . . . Gambling has all the properties of a psychoactive substance, and again, the reason is that it changes the neurochemistry of the brain.”[iv]
The American Psychiatric Association says between 1% and 3% of the U.S. population is addicted to gambling, depending on location and demographics.[v] Youth have even higher addiction rates, between 4 an 8%. [vi]

Proximity and poverty matter

Addiction rates double within 50 miles of a casino.[vii] Probable pathological gambling in Nevada in 2000 measured 3.5%. Other states ranged from 2.1% in North Dakota in 2000 to 4.9% in Mississippi in 1996.[viii] A casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90% increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. Neighborhood disadvantage increases that risk another 69%.[ix] Slots and other gambling machines push susceptible players to the pathological level in an average of 1.08 years, vs. 3.58 years with more “conventional” forms of table and racetrack gambling.[x]

Gambling doubles bankruptcy.

It takes three to five years for gamblers in a newly opened market to exhaust their resources. When addiction ripens in the market, so do the social costs.
The most recent study of all the casino counties in the nation confirmed personal bankruptcy rates are 100% higher in counties with casinos than in counties without casinos.[xi]

Gambling increases crime

Desperate to “chase” and recover gambling losses, pathological gamblers often turn to crime. Fraud and embezzlement become common among formerly hard-working and highly trusted people. Violent crimes also increase. Three years after the introduction of casinos in Atlantic City, there was a tripling of total crimes. Per capita crime there jumped from 50th in the nation to first.[xii] Comparing crime rates for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft reveals Nevada is the most dangerous place to live in the United States.[xiii]

Expect suicides.

A study of addicted gamblers revealed, “Between 20% and 30% of the respondents made actual suicide attempts. No other addictive population has had as high a prevalence for attempts.”[xiv] Nevada has been the highest in the nation for suicides for 10 of the last 12 years.[xv]