As casinos have sprouted up around the country, industry critics have raised questions about increased crime, gambling addiction and personal bankruptcy, but current research downplays such concerns.
“There does not seem to be much good evidence that a casino increases crime, or other negative behaviors,” said Michael Hicks, director of of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University.
“With the exception of drunk driving, recent studies have found a weaker link between casinos and both crime and bankruptcies, economists Douglas Walker of the College of Charleston and Russell Sobel of The Citadel wrote in the June 2016 journal Current Addiction Reports.
According to Walker and Sobel, the social impacts of casinos are more difficult to measure than the economic impacts.
“Taken at face value, estimates of both the benefits and costs of legalized casino gambling appear to be diminishing,” they said.
Sgt. Jason Collum, public information officer with the Evansville Police Department said increases in crime during the 20 years that city has hosted a casino have been due primarily to the city’s growth.
“I couldn’t tell you that it is associated with the casino itself,” said Collum, who worked at what was then Casino Aztar early in his career.
Many critics dub video poker and slot machines the “crack cocaine” of gambling because of the potential for addiction, but it is a problem that affects relatively few people. The American Psychiatric Association estimates that about 1 percent of gamblers have an addiction.
“Slot machines are a textbook example of one way that behavior can get out of control,” said Tom Johnson, professor of psychology at Indiana State University who researches addiction. “The comparison to cocaine was likely made because stimulants are very good at activating the brain’s reward circuits. The same circuits that are involved in keeping people playing slot machines.”
Johnson said highly impulsive people and persons under 25 are especially vulnerable.
Jerry Long, executive director of the Indiana Council on Problem Gambling, said the state’s 13 licensed casinos work to identify addiction.
“The casino industry is very pro-active ... in trying to fix what gets broken,” he said. “Most are members of the American Gaming Association. They have requirements for the casino industry to do training for their staff. Quite a few casino folks come to our training.
“They do a pretty good job, but when you’re talking 25 million people going through there, they’re not going to catch everybody.”
Casino staff carry cards that list problem gambling warning signs and discreetly speak with patrons if they recognize a problem and hand them a card, Long said.
While a portion of casino licensing fees supports efforts to assist problem gamblers, “a great bit of that money gets diverted for alcohol and drug treatment,” he said, explaining that state taxes on alcohol have not increased since 1981. “Initially, it was felt that problem gamblers wouldn’t exist.”
The state provides outpatient treatment for gambling addiction at little or no cost, he said. However, the closest state-funded treatment centers to Terre Haute are in Indianapolis and Bloomington.
People found to have a gambling problem can self-exclude themselves from casinos, and operators can be fined for sending promotional materials to them.