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BY ED VITAGLIANO | AFA Journal News Editor
Apparently
Americans have more money than they know what to do with.
According to U.S.
News & World Report’s Kim Clark, each year Americans
lose $80 billion to gambling in its various forms —from casinos
to bingo to online gambling to horse racing.
Gamblers get plenty
of opportunities to play. Forty-eight states have some form of legalized
gambling, says Jeffrey Kluger of Time — and that
does not include the Internet, which is quickly becoming a wide-open
portal for those with an itch to bet.
Even by 1996, says Kluger,
the annual take for the U.S. gambling industry was "more than
that from movies, music, cruise ships, spectator sports and live
entertainment combined."
Empty promises
When most people think of legalized gambling, places like casinos
are probably the first image to pop into their minds. Small wonder,
since there are more than 1,200 casinos, card rooms and bingo parlors
in the U.S. And casino gambling is extremely popular.
Clark says that about
73 million Americans visited a casino in 2005 — up from the
more than 53 million that did so in 2000. The rate at which patrons
visit casinos is growing, too. The average gambler visits a casino
six times a year, which is almost double the number of trips 10
years ago.
But state lotteries
are also extremely popular — 42 states run them, according
to the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Total lottery profits
in the U.S. in 2004 amounted to almost $14 billion.
How did these lotteries
spread so far and so wide in the U.S.? Marjorie Coeyman says in
The Christian Science Monitor, "Many states sell the lottery
concept to the public with the promise that a large portion of the
proceeds will benefit public schools."
In fact, as of February
2006, of the 42 state lotteries, 24 earmark some proceeds for education
funding. Politicians promising that lottery profits will be sunk
into better schools and more teachers is, after all, an easier sell
than raising taxes.
But like many things
in politics, empty promises are easy to make. ECS researcher Molly
Burke says, "The proceeds from state lotteries are less than
you might think. Even if they’re all earmarked toward education,
it isn’t a huge amount. It’s never quite as much as states
would like the schools and the taxpayers to think."
For example, the organization
says that what New York funnels to schools from its state lottery
amounts to only 5% of all public school revenue. Only 2% of public
school funds comes from the lottery in California.
Moreover, say critics,
state legislatures that receive lottery proceeds for education often
simply lower their education expenditures coming out of the general
fund. In the end, the schools see very little net gain.
"It’s not
a bonus for the schools but a substitution," argues Rev. Richard
McGowan, professor at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.
In fact, Coeyman says
that one study that examined Ohio’s lottery (which directs
100% of lottery winnings into education) found that spending on
education actually shrunk as a result.
"The study demonstrated
that, after Ohio’s 1974 promise to devote all lottery winnings
to public schools, state spending on education dropped from 42%
of its total budget in 1973 to 29% in 1994," she says.
Poker-faced kids
With lotteries often being sold to voters as a way to help school
kids, it is ironic that the gambling craze sweeping the adult world
is sucking many kids in as well.
Poker is especially
hot right now among the nation’s youth. According to the 2005
National Annenberg Risk Survey of Youth (NARSY), conducted by the
Annenberg Public Policy Center, the rate of young people age 14
to 22 who play for money each month increased 20% in just one year.
"Based on our latest
estimates, there are approximately 2.9 million young people between
the ages of 14 and 22 who are gambling on cards on a weekly basis,"
the Center said. "Over 80% of these youth are male."
The Annenberg survey
found that 37% of males in high school and 50% of those in college
reported gambling on cards at least once a month.
"The word, conservatively,
is ‘epidemic,’" Edward Looney, executive director
of the New Jersey-based Council on Compulsive Gambling, told USA
Today.
The increased interest
of young people in gambling has, not surprisingly, spilled over
to Internet gambling. Between 2004 and 2005, the percentage of young
men who reported weekly gambling online more than doubled, with
nearly 20% of males saying they engage in Internet gambling at least
once a month.
Annenberg estimates
that more than half a million young people gamble online every week
— most being under age 21.
Unfortunately, online
gambling may be even more problematic than other forms. A Brown
University study found that Internet gamblers who get addicted usually
do so within a single year — a much faster rate than gambling
addicts who play more traditional forms, whose addiction takes an
average of 31ž2 years.
Why have poker and other
forms of gambling become so popular among youth? For one thing,
experts cite the popularity of poker shows on television networks,
such as ESPN and Bravo. But others point to the fact that gambling,
in general, is losing its negative image.
"Gambling has become
a more mainstream activity," says Romer, although he says its
impact on youth, especially, is worrisome.
Paying the price
That danger is what motivates Jeffrey Derevensky, who helps
head up the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and
High-Risk Behaviours at McGill University in Montreal. He believes
adolescents should be warned about the dangers of gambling.
"We go into schools
and try to teach students that gambling is dangerous and potentially
addictive, just like drugs or alcohol," Derevensky told the
McGill Reporter. "We also try to teach them that it depends
on luck and not on skill, so they won’t equate it with video
games.… The students are very receptive to our message because
they all seem to know someone who is in trouble because of gambling.
The resistance we get is mostly from educators and parents. Some
schools don’t want us to come to class to talk about gambling
because they don’t see the point."
But there is a point.
Derevensky estimates that 4-8% of youth in North America have a
serious gambling problem, with another 10-15% being at risk.
NARSY Director Dan Romer
is also concerned. "The rising rate of card playing and overall
gambling is worrisome," he said. "Young people are more
prone to addiction and increased exposure to gambling during the
adolescent years increases the chances of developing gambling-related
problems."
But gambling addiction
is not simply a danger for the young. Adults, too, are finding that
gambling problems are ruining their lives, families, finances and
careers. One study estimated that 2.7% of adults are either pathological
or problem gamblers. (See sidebar at left.)
While at first glance
that may seem like a small percentage, it should be viewed in the
wider context of other addiction phenomena. For example, 3.6% of
Americans have a drug abuse or drug dependency problem, and yet
that problem gets plenty of publicity.
For critics, it only
makes sense that in states where there is more exposure to legalized
gambling, more people will become enticed — and overcome —
by its power to addict.
Statistics bear this
out. According to The Christian Science Monitor, a study of Nevada’s
gambling industry in 2002 found that 6.4% of the population in that
state were either pathological or problem gamblers — more than
double the nationwide figure of 2.7%.
"One not unexpected
result was that the prevalence rate in Nevada was higher than in
virtually every other state that we looked at," Rachel Volberg,
a gambling-impact researcher who helped lead the Nevada study, told
the newspaper. "That obviously speaks to the impact of exposure."
Kluger agrees. "What
makes people start gambling may also be a function of availability.
A 1999 study ordered by the U.S. Congress found that people who
live within 50 miles of a casino have two times as much risk of
developing a gambling problem as those living farther away."
Nevertheless, the gambling
industry — with support from many state legislators —
continues to push the expansion of casinos, lotteries and the like.
But before voters roll
the dice when asked to legalize gambling, they may want to remember
that at least some of their neighbors will come up snake eyes.
The book on gambling
in U.S.
From various government and news sources:
48 states allow some form of legalized gambling.
300 major Internet sites offer poker online.
6 million Americans placed a bet online last year.
1,200 casinos, card rooms and bingo parlors are open.
73 million Americans patronized casinos, card parlors or bingo
halls in 2005.
80 billion
dollars are lost by Americans each year on all forms of gambling.
Do
you have a gambling problem?
The National Council on Problem Gambling recommends that
if a person can respond "yes" to any of the following
statements, they should consider seeking assistance from a professional.
You have often gambled longer than you had planned.
You have often gambled until your last dollar was gone.
Thoughts of gambling have caused you to lose sleep.
You have used your income or savings to gamble while letting
bills go unpaid.
You have made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling.
You have broken the law or considered breaking the law to finance
your gambling.
You have borrowed money to finance your gambling.
You have felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling
losses.
You have been remorseful after gambling.
You have gambled to get money to meet your financial obligations.
National Council
on Problem Gambling
www.ncpgambling.org
24-hour confidential national helpline: 800-522-4700
Focus on the Family
Counseling
719-531-3400 • www.family.org
Compulsive Gambling
Center
924 East Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone: 800-LOST-BET
www.lostbet.com
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