part5
The burgeoning human cost
Religious writer Paul Richards reported that "studies show gamblers
going without food and clothes, resorting to theft and other
illegal activities to get money [for the gambling habit] and
suffering high rates of family breakdown" (The Church of England
newspaper, Oct. 29, 2004).
According to San Francisco Chronicle writer Susan Gluss, "Economist
Earl Grinols, author of Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits,
studied the rates of crime, bankruptcies, lost workdays, domestic
violence, illness, divorces and more, in counties withand
withoutcasinos. Even using conservative estimates, he found that
social costs of gambling outweigh benefits 3 to 1 . . .
"Just one pathological gambler costs society about $11,000, says
Grinols. He estimates the annual cost of gambling to the U.S.
economy at between $40 billion and $50 billion, nearly half the
cost of drug abuse. The bottom line: Gambling takes far more than
it gives.
"Entire communities can suffer. Although casinos create a host of
new jobs at first, those gains are typically offset by layoffs and
poor sales in area businesses. Restaurants lose customers to the
casino's bars and cafes. Dollars spent by townsfolk on, say,
refrigerators, cars, or clothes disappear into a slot machine
vacuum."
Missouri is a case in point. Gambling tax revenue brought $242
million in 2002. But Casino Watch, a group opposed to gambling,
argues that "the state lost more than double that amounta whopping
$572 millionin gambling-related business failures, crime,
unemployment, social service costs and more."
On the other hand, when South Carolina banned slot machines in
2000, two thirds of its Gamblers Anonymous groups disbanded within
six months due to drastic drops in members needing those
services.
Gluss sums up the problem: With gambling, "we all pay the social
and financial consequences. Dearly" ("Backlash on Betting:
Addiction Is Only Part of Gaming's Heavy Social Cost," Oct. 24,
2004).
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