8/15/2008 12:10:00 PM How will proposed casino affect Ohio?
By GWEN RICE CLARK Retired Teacher
A Trojan Horse has appeared on the horizon in Ohio. I want to compare that horse with the advent of a casino in Clinton County.
In 1978, the first gambling casino outside Nevada opened in Atlantic City, N.J. Since then, the push has been on to open casinos in every state. Now Ohio is surrounded by the states of West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Michigan whose casinos offer slots and more.
Let's look first at the positive effects derived from gambling casinos.
Here's what the MyOhioNow.com and Lakes Entertainment offer to us in Ohio. (1) The My Ohio Now casino will be the largest private economic development project of the 21st century in Ohio (offering to bring "us rubes" into the 21st century) and put us on a par with the surrounding states. "An unbelievable opportunity to fund many of Ohio County's needs without even raising taxes."
Six hundred (600) million dollars in economic activity is planned annually commencing with the first year of operations - a resort casino with first class amenities, a championship golf course, approximately 100 table games, a 20 table plus poker room, a real destination resort where Ohioans can keep our entertainment dollars in our state while enjoying ourselves.
Five thousand permanent jobs that will pay an average of $34,000 per year including health care and pension benefits, creating new tax revenue for state government.
The construction phase of the project has developed a Buy Ohio First pledge that will invest in Ohio companies for construction and operational work at the casino.
And, SHARE THE WEALTH: A solution to every county government's financial needs! A long-term and stable revenue source that will produce just over $200 million in revenue for Ohio county governments - proceeds to be distributed to each of Ohio's counties annually by population - for example, Clinton County, $753,498; and Highland County, $759, 669. The casino proceeds can be used by county government for any purpose. Communities in the immediate area surrounding casinos have proven to have lower incidents of crime than areas that do not have casinos. This includes places like Detroit, once the violent crime capital of the nation, but the casino has made downtown Detroit safer.
Now let's look at the adverse effects of a gambling casino coming into our state. Remember the Trojan horse? For those few who may not know the story - during the war between the Greeks and Trojans a large hollow wooden horse appeared in the plain before Troy. Filled with Greek soldiers it was introduced within the walls of Troy by a stratagem (a trick or maneuver) causing the destruction of the city. Bringing in a casino can cause destruction to many lives.
There is social gambling and pathological gambling. Gambling can be defined as playing a game of chance for stakes, occurring in many forms; lotteries, slot machines, table games (cards/dice), horse and dog tracks, bingo, bookmaking, etc. For most of the industry's patrons, gambling is fun and a form of harmless entertainment. But 4 to 6 percent of gamblers will become problem gamblers causing a devastating illness that negatively affects every aspect of their lives. This is pathological gambling, a "disorder of impulse control" (1980, American Psychiatric Association), chronic and progressive, consisting of three phases: the winning phase - gambler experiences a big win or a series of wins leaving him with unreasonable optimism, and he continues increasing the amounts of his bets; the losing phase - gambler begins bragging about wins, instead of losses, lying to family and friends, becomes irritable, restless, withdrawn, unable to pay off debts; and the desperation phase - this group is addicted to action, not money, the thrill or buzz of outwitting your partner (cards or the slot machine): time spent gambling like this is similar to being high on cocaine - blame others, alienate family and friends, may experience hopelessness and suicidal thoughts - this addiction, unlike chemical addiction, is a hidden disease, but these have a higher suicide rate than persons addicted to alcohol or drugs.
Who is affected by gambling?
THE FAMILY: As gamblers go through these phases they spend less time with their family, spend more of the family's money on gambling, deplete bank accounts, steal from family members. A letter in Ann Landers' column (mid-May 2008) from a young wife, mother of one and expecting another child, told of her husband's gambling losses, losing the family home and the savings account. My own mother told of my father becoming so addicted to pool, every payday the check was lost to the table, and so she took a small handgun, went to the pool hall, showed Dad the gun, and took him home. He never played pool again. A drastic measure, but it worked!
COUPLES: When we stayed at a certain campground in Florida, twice a week a large bus came on the grounds to pick up campers to take them to Immokalee, Fla. to a large casino. When couples won, all was joy and hilarity. When one or the other lost, blame was placed on "your stupid act." The video poker and slot machines in these casinos have been referred to as the "crack cocaine of gambling" because they are highly addictive, and statistics show the majority of people gambling on the slot machines are women. CHILDREN: Children are often prone to suffer abuse and may be physically and/or emotionally abandoned by their parents, who are unable to provide their children with needed attention and nurturing because of the time spent gambling. "Casino kids" have been left by themselves at the outer rim of casinos while parents gamble. In some extreme cases, children are left in the family car in the casino parking lot for hours at a time, while parents gambled inside.
TEENS: Today, teens are approximately three times more likely than adults to become problem and pathological gamblers, research shows (W.Va, 1997). They have also been shown to have higher levels of use for tobacco, alcohol, drug use, and overeating than do their classroom peers.
COMMUNITIES: The MyOhioNow fact sheet states that communities in the immediate area surrounding casinos have proven to have a lower incidence of crime. Sheriff Ron Ward of Highland County discussed the issue with the police chief of Lawrenceburg, Ind., a community where a casino was recently built. "He said they have seen an influx of traffic violations, public intoxication, and drunk driving. I've got to believe the host county would see more of the same." (The Times-Gazette, May 1, 2008). The casino developers recognize that, in stating that the host county would receive a larger portion of the casino's receipts because of problems associated with the business. Gambling perpetuates the mindset of something for nothing.
It is important to recognize that most people can gamble without negative consequences. And most people can drink alcohol without becoming an alcoholic. We don't pass laws depriving those who drink of their pleasure. One of the more subtle, yet drastic upheavals of our time is the way some special interest groups have illogically fought for certain positions by cleverly redefining words. You are neutral on the matter of alcohol until one day a drunken driver hits your car head-on and your spouse or child is left a vegetable or is killed.
King Solomon gave good advice to his son in Proverbs 23: 31-32, "Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup...In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper." (NIV). In other words, don't take the first drink and you won't experience the end result. That is very good advice for the gambler. Studies have shown that the majority of gamblers are low income persons, those who can afford to lose the least. They do so hoping to better their lot in life, but many times the result is only more addiction and poverty. Gambling research estimates that for each dollar state government makes in gambling revenues, the state will pay out a like amount in state social services and/or law enforcement. The casino developers have no stake in the lives of families whose members gamble.
Campaigns to get casino gambling in Ohio failed in 1996 and 2006. Two ads for the MyOhioNow are now running on TV. The ads are designed to help a campaign to collect 402,275 valid signatures of Ohio voters to get the issue on the ballot in November, waged by a group of Cleveland area developers and Lakes Entertainment Inc., a Minnesota-based developer. Should the signatures be acquired, on the Nov. 4 ballot will appear an Amendment to the Constitution for one privately-owned casino to be operated in the state of Ohio.
Please vote no. What if it were you or a family member who becomes addicted to gambling? As with many things in life, we have a choice. Please choose to keep Ohio free of this "entertaining" addiction.
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Gwen Rice Clark is a retired teacher and a columnist for The Times-Gazette.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Article comment by:
L. S.
Ms. Rice. I commend you on your informative article citing both sides of gambling. Casinos are popping up all over the country like Starbucks Coffee and state legislations want the public to believe everything is "rosy" and the amounts of revenue to be obtained will be a quick fix. After reading GS Comments I conclude they are very ignorant to the ways casinos work, or anything about addictions. They make it sound like these players are all low lifes off the street. I can assure you addiction comes in all forms and many of these "addicts" are highly professional people...or may be your grandma blowing her husband's pension. Either way you probably wouldn't even know. Someone close to you may be addicted and you wouldn't even know it. After working in this business for 10 years as a dealer, I can tell you the business is ruthless and they want your money. Properties like Harrahs have brilliant, aggressive marketing strategies, and use continuous mailings and phone calls to keep their loyal players
"addicts" coming back, but many of these players become addicts. These casinos share no responsibility and get around tossing any player with their "self evict" programs. They continually overserve patrons and do nothing about players gambling recklessly, even though they claim to be advocates of "responsible gaming". Another body was found under our Aurora Casino last week, and you probably will never know if it was casino related or not. I'm currently living in a personal hell and going through a bitter divorce as my husband denies he is an addict. In the meantime, I'm scrambling around trying to protect my financial situation as he carelessly gambles thousands of dollars each month, but somehow gets a rush in chasing it each month. In the last year, I have fought with him and watched him disintegrate into an abusive person and shell of a man. The public needs to stop their "it's not my problem attitude". I can assure you, one way or the other many of us are going to pay for it, either emotionally or financially. I hope reporters like Ms. Clark continue to inform the public about the perils of gambling. It's become this nations favorite pastime but is getting out of control for many. For the most part, these casinos are not helping the economy at all. They are just taking money out of local areas pockets and putting it into their own. LS
Posted: Monday, August 18, 2008
Article comment by:
G.S.
I enjoyed your article and use of Rogerian argument. Very Nice. However, aren't many these low income gamblers already spending their money on alcohol, drugs and other addictive habits anyway? I'd rather them waste their money away on something that's going to go back into the local economy and government rather than into something such as alcohol or drugs. Most of these gamblers who would be patrons at the new casino already frequent local establishments such as Argosy, Grand Vic., Belterra, Horseshoe, French Lick, Turfway, Churchill, Keeneland, play lottery, play bingo, etc. The rest would be tourists or business travel from the Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Indianapolis areas which would pump a huge amount of money into the economy. Point being, the options are already there for these gamblers. Why not help the economy out in the process?
