Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling
PO Box 3931, Concord, NH 03302-3931
(603) 643-6059
August 26, 2007
Dear Rep. Hamm and members of the subcommittee,
Thank you for allowing us time on Thursday to present our case in some detail and for you and your committee’s thoughtful questioning.
Bottom line: of all potential revenue sources being evaluated by Ways & Means,
only casino gambling would degrade quality-of-life in communities throughout our state by increasing addiction and crime and by imposing large unrecoverable economic costs on tens of thousands of families and businesses.
We are following up with this memo to correct the seriously misleading and even false testimony provided by some of those paid to appear on behalf of Cannery Casino.
(Las Vegas-based Cannery Casino seeks legislative approval for its proposed monopoly race-track casino at Rockingham Park in Salem).
Topics covered below:
Overstatement of projected revenues by Cannery Casino.
The clear evidence that casino proximity increases gambling addiction.
Calculations showing that casino social and economic costs exceed tax revenues.
Links to five papers showing that casinos increase crime.
Evidence that casinos increase childhood gambling, addiction and crime.
Evidence that casinos increase in suicide.
Evidence that video slot machines are far more addictive than lottery.
Problem and addicted gamblers generate over half of casino revenue.
Community “social capital” index drops within 15 miles of casinos.
Addiction treatment services address only a small part of the addiction problem.
Why local chambers of commerce are rejecting casinos.
Please be in touch anytime if you would like more information or a second opinion on any information provided you by Cannery Casino.
Best Regards,
Jim Rubens
Executive Committee Chair, Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling
603-643-6059 w
603-359-3300 c
Gambling Tax Revenues Overestimated
Cannery Casino’s tax revenue projections of $168 million per year are significantly overstated. As in most other casino states, the revenue shortfall will become a trap, forcing the legislature to allow more machines at more locations to meet revenue targets.
The projections assume Net Machine Revenues of $307 per slot per day, about the rate at the Foxwoods destination casino, far above the $231 at the three Delaware racinos, and far above most other racino states.
The projections take no account of likely losses to BPT/BET, Rooms & Meals, and lottery revenues.
The revenue hit from possible Massachusetts casinos are low-balled. The Middleboro tribal casino is projected to have 1,800 slot machines, where this $1 billion plus casino is more likely to have 7,500 machines, matching the number at the expanded Mohegan Sun.
The projections assume 1,800 machines at Suffolk Downs, failing to model a destination mega-casino at this central location, 2 miles from Boston Logan airport and 40 minutes from Rockingham Park.
The projections assume that the Rockingham racino will open for business before Massachusetts’.
Machine Proximity Increases Gambling Addiction
The American Gaming Association FAQ (pages 5-6) included in the binder provided to the subcommittee brazenly and falsely asserts that increased proximity to slot machines does not increase gambling addiction. Such a claim by the gambling industry is eerily similar to past tobacco industry denials that their products are addictive. The FAQ fails to reference any of the abundant research on gambling addiction published after 2001.
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission (page 28) found: “The availability of a casino within 50 miles (versus 50–250 miles) is associated with a higher prevalence (about double) of problem and pathological gambling…”
The Journal of Gambling Studies (Welte, page 214) finds a doubling of problem/pathological gambling among people living within 10 miles of a casino.
Economic Cost of NH Casinos Greater Than Projected Revenue
Dr. Marvin Steinberg, Executive Director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, was compensated for his testimony by Cannery Casinos. He testified that he routinely acts as a paid consultant to casino interests. A member of the subcommittee questioned him about my use of the Grinols social cost numbers and increased past-year addiction prevalence that I used to calculate low-case New Hampshire cost impacts. Dr Steinberg acknowledged that the addiction numbers I cited were within what he considered the reasonable range.
Casinos Increase Crime
The American Gaming Association FAQ (pages 13-14) denies the link between regional crime and casinos, citing only very old research published before the higher quality studies cited below. Law enforcement officials testifying for Cannery Casinos stated that there is little personal crime inside and outside the doors of casinos and non-casino race tracks. This is a calculated attempt by Cannery Casinos to divert attention from the actual casino-crime problem: gambling-addiction-related crime in homes, workplaces and streets spread throughout all communities within drive-time of casinos.
Here are four of the best recent studies on this subject. These studies of course correct for population changes that sometimes accompany casino development. These studies leave no doubt that at least hundreds of additional innocent New Hampshire residents and businesses would be robbed, burglarized, or physically assaulted each year if the legislature were to legalize even race track casinos.
Evans Topolesky (tribal casinos only, see Table 11, page 70)
Our state Attorney General, the New Hampshire Chiefs of Police and the New Hampshire Sheriffs Association all vigorously oppose legalized casinos because of their direct experience with casino crime. A 2007 member survey among the Chiefs disclosed overwhelming opposition.
Childhood Gambling Addiction, Crime and Child Abuse
Dr. Steinberg testified that there is “no reliable evidence” that children of adult gamblers are more likely to become addicted to gambling. This is flagrantly false. More nearby casinos mean more adult gamblers and more childhood gambling.
A Rutgers University study found that teens are twice as likely to be heavy gamblers if their parents gamble (Table 2.14). Teens are one-third more likely become pathological level 3 gamblers if their parents gamble (Table 3.5).
A University of Delaware study (Slides 13-33) found that Delaware teens gambling over the past month were two to three times more likely than non-gambling peers to smoke, binge drink, steal, or use illegal drugs.
A National Academy of Sciences commission meta-study (page 159) found that an estimated 10 percent of children and 50 percent of spouses suffer physical abuse at the hands of pathological gamblers.
Contrary to the rosy scenario painted at the hearing, the serious problems associated with casino gambling are not qualitatively different in Delaware. These are among the reasons that the New Hampshire Medical Society, the Children's Alliance of New Hampshire, the state teachers union (NEA-NH), and the New Hampshire School Administrators Association all oppose casinos.
Casinos Increase Suicide
Cannery Casino’s binder contains an American Gaming Association paper falsely asserting no link between casinos and suicide. The Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation published a comprehensive literature review on the casino-suicide link, finding (page 27) that:
Estimates for attempted suicide range from 17% to 24% of pathological gamblers.
Pathological gamblers have a suicide rate five to ten times higher than the general population and their spouses have suicide attempt rates three times higher than the general population.
Slot Machines Are More Addictive Than Lottery or Pari-Mutuel Betting
Persons paid to testify for Cannery Casinos stated repetitively that slots addiction was no more serious than addiction to lottery or pari-mutuel betting. The published evidence is decisively contrary. The below International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction graphic (Breen, Figure 1, page 46) shows that slot machines are about 3 times more addictive than instant lottery and 5 times more addictive than pari-mutuel betting. (Years of play before onset of gambling addiction is a good measure of relative addictiveness.)
The Journal of Gambling Studies (Breen and Zimmerman, page 5) reported that 70 percent of Delaware gambling addicts seeking treatment identify slot machines as their primary problem.
Dr. Robert Breen, director of the Rhode Island Gambling Treatment Program, explains the greater addictiveness of slot machines on the basis of their play speed and repetitiveness:
Frequently, patients reported that they developed [problem gambling] rapidly and severely after beginning involvement with machines. This was true despite that, in many cases, they had gambled regularly on other forms of gambling for many years without problems … However, the addictive qualities of video gambling transcend mere speed and continuity. The use of virtual reel mapping in the design of such devices creates an illusion of near misses and misrepresents the true odds of winning.
The Gambling Industry’s Business Is Addiction
New Hampshire should not sanction or become dependent upon tax revenues from an industry whose business is creating and preying upon gambling addicts.
The Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (Table 17, page 42) found that about half of casino gambling and 60 percent of slot machine gambling revenue comes from problem and addicted gamblers.
The Australian Government (Vol 1, Summary, page 21), in a comprehensive study of that nation’s extensive gambling industry, found that problem and addicted gamblers lose 18 times more per year than non-problem gamblers.
Casinos Depress Social Capital
Social capital is an index measuring prevailing levels of trust, civic orientation, volunteerism, group participation, charitable giving and service, and meeting needs of family and friends within a community. In this first-of-its-kind study published in Social Indicators Research, Griswold and Nichols (pages 390-391) found that casinos depress “social capital” in communities within a 15 mile radius. The social capital index in casino and nearby communities is .55 lower than the overall 3.77 average among all 300 communities compared. Before adoption, communities within 15 miles of a casino MSA had statistically identical social capital indexes to non-casino MSAs, showing that casinos do not preferentially locate in low social capital communities.
Gambling Addiction Treatment Fails To Solve the Problem
We agree that New Hampshire should increase treatment services for gambling addicts. However, Dr. Steinberg’s paid testimony for Cannery Casinos implied that such services would be a sufficient response to the problem of increased addiction from legalized New Hampshire casinos. Even when available, treatment services are used by only a small fraction of addicts and are therefore not a substitute for preventing the problem by keeping casinos out of New Hampshire.
This American Journal of Psychiatry study (page 299) found that – even when such services are available – only 7 percent of lifetime pathological gamblers sought or received any type of treatment for their gambling problems.
In a literature review, Petry et al found that “only 8 percent of [Gamblers Anonymous] attendees achieve a year of abstinence.”
Analysis of a U.S. National Epidemiological Survey found that only 9.1 percent of gambling addicts used either Gamblers Anonymous or other treatment programs.
Wichita Chamber and Voters Reject Racinos
Wichita State University studied (FAQs and more FAQs) the costs and benefits of casino gambling in Kansas, finding that a local racino would have significant net negative economic impact on the region. (See tables 16-19, column SC to see the calculated cost-benefit ratios. The SC column refers to all costs, including social costs.) This study uses extremely conservative numbers, as I did in my cost spreadsheet provided to the subcommittee. The WSU study authors are independent, meaning that the study was financed by neither pro- nor-anti-casino organizations.
The Wichita Chamber of Commerce said:
The Board does not believe supporting a casino in our community will advance the Wichita Metro Chamber's mission to empower our business members to increase the wealth and well-being of all south-central Kansans. There was strong evidence that any economic benefits derived from a casino were quickly outweighed by the anticipated negative impact on our local businesses, government partners and the overall growth and vibrancy of our general economy.
56 percent of Wichita-area voters agreed with their chamber, voting in an August referendum against legalizing slot machines at a local greyhound track.
The Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce and the Portsmouth City Council oppose a casino in their city. A recent survey of New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association members discloses overwhelming opposition to casinos anywhere in our state.
Regional Impact of Casinos on Local Government
New Hampshire casino bills often provide opportunity for host communities to vote on casino acceptance. This approach leaves no say for communities that will bear most impact. This Boston Globe article illustrates the huge cost impacts on schools and towns in the region surrounding the Connecticut tribal casinos. Contrary to industry claims, most casino workers are paid low wages, necessitating increased budgets for subsidized housing and increased schools budgets for services such as English as a Second Language and subsidized meals.
Says Ledyard, Connecticut's Mayor, "There has been no economic development spin-off from the [Foxwoods] casino ... Gamblers have one thing in mind: get to the casino, win or lose their money, get in their cars, and go home."
This is why members of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association overwhelmingly oppose casinos.
More Information
Jim Rubens
Executive Committee Chair, Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling
603-643-6059 w
603-359-3300 c