Nov. 18th, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk agreed to expand the DeJope Bingo Hall to make it a complete casino, under the condition that taxpayers do not have to be responsible for the extra cost of expanding it. But the government must carefully consider what underlies the decision to approve the plan.
The negative social consequences of this casino should not be neglected. The government has a duty to protect the well-being of its people. Studies have shown that gambling addiction leads to numerous social problems, which includes increased crime rates, alcoholism, drug use, suicide rates and family problems.
According to articles in The Economist in 1999 and The Journal of Financial Reporting in 2000, The National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimates that of the 125 million Americans who gamble at least once a year, approximately 7.5 million have some form of gambling problem. This means that they have lied, stolen, gone broke, neglected jobs or family, or even committed suicide due to an uncontrollable desire to gamble-whereas there are another 15 million \at risk"" of developing a gambling problem. From these data, it is actually easy to develop gambling-related problems after trying it. The government really should not encourage gambling by expanding the casino and sacrifice public welfare for financial reasons.
Furthermore, when social problems due to gambling addiction do occur, it will bring a lot of financial troubles to the state to tackle these problems. Although revenues can be gained in expanding the casino, the social cost it incurs is long-term and easily covers the revenues it generates. Among the states in the United States that have legalized gambling for economic reasons, most did not really gain and suffered many financial setbacks. The money that they had to pay to solve social problems due to prevailing gambling was immense. Studies generated by The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago estimate that problem gambling costs society at least $5 billion in jobless benefits, increased levels of crime and incarceration and medical treatment. This tremendous cost will easily cover the anticipated $45 million revenues collected over the next 13 years by expanding the casino.
If the government really wants to gain revenues, it is best to think of other ways to achieve that instead of expanding casinos, which is very likely to harm the community.
