The head of the Ottawa Board of Health has come out against the addition of a new casino in the city, instead advocating for increased funds to help aid and prevent gambling addiction, according to this article by CBC News. Instead of adding casinos and increasing the number of gambling addicts, he recommends helping the existing 13,000 problem gamblers already in the city, by increasing funds to local gambling treatment centers and by taking some of the money from the Ottawa Lottery and Gaming Corporation and diverting it to gambling prevention and outreach programs.
Focus
Report examines how gambling research is funded
This extensive report by The Goldsmiths Report details the ways in which gambling research is conducted and funded and identifies a need for more unbiased reporting. It provides an interesting look into gambling research and how it can be tainted by the influence of money or lawmakers who are supported by the gambling industry, and is a great read for those interested in how certain influences affect gambling research.
More and more seniors struggle with gambling addiction
Seniors are among the fastest-growing groups of problem gamblers in America. Being unable to make up their losses after retirement, senior citizens often plunge themselves farther and farther into debt, gambling away their retirement savings for which they worked their whole lives. This report from AlterNet details the effects of problem gambling on seniors.
Report shows staggering costs of problem gambling
This report, by The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission, estimates the cost of problem gambling to be as high as $2.8 billion in Victoria, Australia. Excess gambling by problem gamblers accounts for up to $1.4 billion of this, with the rest coming from the intangible costs for problem gamblers’ mental health and familial stability. This article by The Age summarizes the report’s findings.
2013 Cost of problem gambling could be as high as $2.8b- report
Tax break for Atlantic City casinos means more struggles for the city
According to this article by NorthJersey.com, Atlantic City may have to take on an additional tax burden after casinos in the city won a large property tax reduction in court. The reduction is due to declining property values of casinos because of the casino industry’s overall downward spiral in recent years. The city will now have to cope with the loss of serious tax revenue in addition to its long-term financial struggles.
Oklahoma lottery produces disappointing results
This Journal Record article outlines the argument behind the opposition to the Oklahoma lottery, especially in light of its failure to live up to promises in the past decade. This piece gives an interesting look into the debate over lotteries and shows another example of the failure of government’s experiment with gambling.
The link between poverty and lottery sales is undeniable
This article by The Hartford Courant, written in response to a taxpayer-funded study that concluded no link between poverty and lottery sales, presents the findings of several other studies that have time and again found an irrefutable link between poverty and lottery sales, and poverty and gambling addiction. The author offers insightful comments on these many past studies that have found this strong link and finds the faults in the one study that has concluded otherwise.
Much of lottery revenue comes from those already receiving government subsidies
This in-depth report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis studied the relationship between income and lottery revenue and found that a large portion of lottery profits come from people who receive some financial subsidy from the government, suggesting the lottery profits from those with the least disposable income.
Report finds link between casino gambling and corruption in states
A report by two economists from the Pew Research Center surveyed political corruption before and after the legalization of casino gambling in states and found that corruption tends to rise when casino gambling is legalized and casinos begin to operate. The report gives two theories as to why this is. First, the economists report casinos tend to open up in states with a “culture of corruption” already established . They also report that the casino industry and casino interests are able to obtain the legislative results they want in a way that is “perhaps tainted by corruption”. This article from Al.com summarized the report’s findings.
2013 Mississippi leads nation in corruption when linked to legalization of gambling
Atlantic City’s severe hardships continue despite plunging millions into casinos
Atlantic City is known for its many casinos and for being, essentially, the Las Vegas of the east coast. The many casinos were brought into Atlantic City under the pretense that they would help the city out of its financial hole. However, even decades after Atlantic City legalized casino gambling and spent millions on the casino industry, according to this article by the USA Today, the city continues to struggle.