45. Legalized gambling has escalated dramatically in recent years

By Tom O'Connell

A Congressional study of legalized gambling indicates that more than half the adult population are playing lottery games and nearly 30 percent have visited a casino. Lotteries and casinos have become the most popular forms of gambling, according to a study by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission which was cited in a recent newsletter from Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling (MCCG).

Other thought-provoking highlights of the federal study were provided by MCCG:

•     In 1973, only seven states had lotteries and only Nevada had casinos. Today wagering is legal in 48 states (the exceptions being Utah and Hawaii); 37 states plus the District of Columbia have lotteries; casinos are now authorized to operate in 28 states.

•     Legal gambling revenues have risen from $10.4 billion in 1982 to more than $50 billion in 1997. Since 1976, gambling expenditures as a percentage of income have increased more than 150%.

•     In 1974, 68% of the adult general population had gambled. By 1997, the figure had risen to 86%.

•     Roughly 5.5% of adults from the general population, or about 11 million U.S. citizens, have had a gambling problem in their lifetimes.

•     One study concluded that within a 50-mile radius of a casino, there is about double the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling.

•     Gambling patterns among women are increasingly resembling those of men.

•     There has been an increase in the number of seniors gambling.

•      Adolescents are about twice as likely to develop a gambling problem as adults. It is estimated that there are about 8 million adolescent problem gamblers in the U.S.

•     Problem gambling costs the nation about $5 billion per years in creditor losses, insurance fraud, bankruptcies, social and health-care services, legal fees, and diminished productivity.

•     Gambling advertising contributes to compulsive gambling.

•     It is estimated that one out of five compulsive gamblers has attempted suicide. The suicide rate for pathological gamblers is higher than for any other addictive disorder.

Here are some of the recommendations offered by the federal commission when the report was delivered earlier this year:

•     A national minimum gambling age of 21.

•     Less aggressive lottery advertising.

•     A nationwide ban on all legalized sports wagering.

•     A ban on credit-card, cash-advance machines at gambling establishments.

•     Federal regulation of Internet gambling.

•     Tighter restrictions on contributions from the gambling industry to state and local political campaigns.

•     A call for further studies on gambling behavior and its impact on individuals and society.

•     Creation of a federal agency to gather information each year on state lottery operations.

•     A call for states to mandate that public and private insurers cover pathological gambling in their policies.

•     More funding for programs for compulsive gambling education and treatment.

The goal of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling is to work to ensure that Massachusetts policymakers respond to the report and its recommendations.

To obtain a copy of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's final report, contact the commission at 202-523-8217 (Fax: 202-523-4394; Attn Debbie) or visit the Web site at www.ngisc.gov.

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