Amy Ziettlow investigates how the ubiquitous electronic gambling machine absorbs the time and money of many seniors, while exploiting their loneliness, idleness, and boredom.
Lowering the Standard of Living for Ordinary Citizens
Regions With Casinos See Increase Sex Trafficking Among Minors
One of the effects of regional casinos is the sex trafficking of minors. This atrocity is garnering more and more attention nationwide as the number of children affected increases.
Increase in sex trafficking of minors getting local, state attention
The Poor Disproportionately Affected by Problem Gambling
A study by the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions shows that our nation’s poorest citizen are also those who problem gambling hits the hardest. Those living in poor neighborhoods are over twice as likely to have a gambling addiction than their counterparts in a more affluent community.
People in poor neighborhoods are twice as likely to have gambling problems
Louisiana State Government Has a Self-Inflicted Epidemic of Gambling Addiction
According to the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, about 4.4 percent of adults over 21 in Louisiana, or as many as 159,000 people, demonstrate problematic or pathological gambling. The problem is even worse among young adults. About 14.3 percent of adults between 18 and 21 have problematic or pathological gambling issues. That’s as many as 23,000 people.
Ralph Nader on why casinos are the wrong direction for America
The nation’s most respected consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, speaks powerfully about how government-sanctioned gambling lowers our standard of living and exploits and defrauds citizens.
Caesars casinos skips out on local property tax burden in Missouri
University research outlines the dangers of slot machines
The Carleton University Gambling Laboratory, a think-tank deciphering what makes gamblers keep coming back, says slot machines are nearly four times more addictive than regular card tables. Head researcher, Prof. Michael Wohl, said that’s because players can sit for long periods of time in a relatively low-stress situation and can cash in their winnings without leaving their seats. It’s also due to grave misconceptions about how slot machines work.
“A lot of people think that every time you spin a slot machine you’re getting closer and closer to a win,” Dr. Wohl explains. But that’s simply not the case, he says. He describes them as a mixed bag of marbles. Within it, there’s one “jackpot” marble combined with hundreds of losses. When you play a machine, one of those losses falls out of the bag. But what many people don’t understand is before your very next spin, that dud marble goes right back into the bag. The odds of winning or losing are always exactly the same.”
According to the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, 80% of problem gamblers in Ontario cite slot machines as their problem. The largest percentage are seniors and low-income earners.
FBI crime numbers show crime has increased in Pennsylvania cities since casinos were built
According to FBI crime numbers and the district attorney of Luzerne County (the location of a casino owned by Mohegan Sun), crime has actually gone up in several categories since the casino opened in 2006. From 2005 to 2010, larcenies shot up 20 percent, property crime jumped 13 percent and aggravated assaults increased 12 percent. “I believe it’s just increasing,” said Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis. “Yes, homicides may have gone down, but every year is different with homicides and rape. The burglaries, the property crime — those things I don’t think have gone down. … We get approximately 5,000 cases a year, and it’s been increasing.”
In Bethlehem, a casino opened in July 2010. While FBI statistics are not available for 2011, the bureau’s numbers for Bethlehem from 2009 to 2010 show a 6 percent increase in violent crime and a 7 percent increase in property crime, as well as jumps in robbery and larceny. Burglary in Bethlehem rose 20 percent over those two years.
2012 Suffolk CEO says casino will reduce crime in Eastie but numbers don’t add up
Atlantic City Undercover: Analyzing Casino Crime
After a carjacking in the Taj Majal casino parking garage, the Atlantic City mayor demands an increase in private security. Security issues have been a major problem in Atlantic City over the years due to the increase in the gambling presence.
Failed revitalization in Atlantic City and the continued culture of crime
Despite billions of dollars that have been spent and lost in Atlantic City, crime and poverty are sinking the city down further. The tragic situation underscores the truth that commercialized gambling merely redistributes wealth from ordinary Americans to the powerful.
Failed revitalization in Atlantic City, and the continued culture of crime