THE REAL COST OF CASINO GAMBLING

™ Casinos Cause More Crime.

• The crime rate for casino communities is 84% higher than the national average. (US News & World
Report, computer analysis of 1993-94 FBI Uniform Crime Reports1)

• In the 31 localities that introduced new casinos in 1993, crime went up 7.7% in one year, while
crime rates nationally dropped by 2%. (US News & World Report2)

• Two years after the introduction of casinos in Gulfport, Mississippi, prostitution arrests went
up 85% and ten categories of violent crime increased by 64%.3

• Crime increased by a dramatic 107% within a 30-mile radius of Atlantic City following the
introduction of casinos. (Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency4)

• Macon County, Alabama, has experienced a 40% increase in robberies, 280% increase in
assaults, and a 47% increase in burglaries since slot machine gambling was introduced at
the Quincy’s Triple 7 Casino at Victoryland. (Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center5)

• In Alabama, 28% of admitted problem gamblers confessed to committing illegal acts to feed
their addiction.6

™ Casinos Create Gambling Addicts At A Significant Cost To Society.

• New casinos double gambling addiction within a 50 mile radius. (National Gambling Impact Study
Commission7)

• Every addicted gambler costs taxpayers between $13,200 and $35,000 for services ranging
from court costs to treatment. (US News & World Report8)

• Almost 13 percent of pathological gamblers have mugged someone for money. (US Department
of Justice9)

™ Casino Gambling Destroys Families.

• Only four years after casinos opened in Harrison County, Mississippi, the annual number
of divorces has nearly tripled.10

• The National Research Council found that between 10-17% of children of compulsive gamblers
have been abused.11 In comparison, only 0.006% of children in Alabama are abused.12

• A woman whose partner is a problem gambler is 10.5 times more likely to be the victim of
domestic abuse.13

• According the National Opinion Research Center, 53% of pathological gamblers have been
divorced compared to just 18% of non-gamblers. 14

• Gambling may be the single fastest growing driver of personal bankruptcy.(SMR Research Corporation15)

• Six of the 16 counties with the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation in 1996 were located near
the ten riverboat casinos in Tunica, Mississippi. (SMR Research Corporation16)

1 CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ALABAMA

1200 Corporate Drive, Suite 107
Birmingham, Alabama 35242
 THE REAL COST OF CASINO GAMBLING

™ Casinos Corrupt Public Officials and The Political Process.

• “Three years after gambling was legalized in Louisiana, gambling interests accounted for one
of every three dollars making their way into Louisiana lawmakers’ campaign coffers…”
(The Birmingham News, August 26, 200917)

• Gambling has become the most powerful lobbying group in many states. (Prof. Robert Goodman,
Hampshire College18)

• The gambling industry in Ohio recently outspent its opponents $47 million to $9 million to win
a statewide referendum to legalize casino gambling. (USA Today, December 11, 200919)

• Between 1992 and 1997, $100 million was paid in lobbying fees and donations to state legislators
by the casino industry. (Prof. Earl Grinols, Baylor University 20)

• Pro-gambling forces significantly out-raise opponents, ranging from about 2:1 in California to
1,734:1 in Colorado. In 2008 gambling proponents spent over $167 million in 9 states to expand
their interests. (FollowTheMoney.org21)

• The groups pushing to legalize Las Vegas style gambling in Alabama reported giving $11.3 million
to influence votes during the 2006 campaign cycle. (The Birmingham News, July 5, 200922) ( AL Voice of Teachers
for Education 2006 Annual FCPA Report 23)

• During the same cycle, Milton McGregor and his companies alone steered $1.8 million to
Alabama candidates. (The Birmingham News, July 5, 200924)

• A number of lawsuits have been filed against McGregor’s casino alleging the rigging of
substantial jackpots for former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford. (The Birmingham News, Sept. 30,
200925). McGregor was Langford’s single largest campaign contributor in his 2007 mayoral bid.
(ABC 33/40, February 2, 200826).

• Alabama House of Representatives member Bryant Melton was convicted of theft and money
laundering for stealing taxpayer money to pay off gambling debts. (The Birmingham News, August 14, 200827).

2 CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ALABAMA

1200 Corporate Drive, Suite 107
Birmingham, Alabama 35242
 THE REAL COST OF CASINO GAMBLING

CITATIONS
1
"America's Gambling Fever," U.S. News & World Report, January 15, 1996.
2
Id.
3
Attorney General Joseph Curran, “The House Never Loses and Maryland Cannot Win: Why Casino Gaming is a Bad Idea.” Report to the Joint
Executive-Legislative Task Force to Study Commercial Gaming Activities in Maryland. Submitted October 16, 1995.
4
Andrew J. Buck, Simon Hakim, and Uriel Spiegel, “Casinos, Crime and Real Estate Values: Do They Relate?” Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency, August 1991, p. 295.
5
Based on a comparison of 2003 and 2008 crime data from Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center, Crime in Alabama 2003, Crime in Alabama
2008
6
Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, Report on Alabama, June 2009.
7
Final Report of the National Gambling Impact Commission, June 18, 1999.
8
US News & World Report, supra.
9
US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, “Gambling and Crime Among Arrestees: Exploring the Link,” July, 2004.
10
Mississippi State Department of Health, “Vital Statistics Mississippi” for the years 1992-1996. http://tinyurl.com/y8at9mr
11
National Research Council (1999).
12
Alabama Department of Human Resources
13
John Hill, “Social and Economic Costs of Gambling,” Guide to the Issues. Alabama Policy Institute .2005.
14
National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. “Gambling Impact and Behavior Study” Report to the National Gambling Impact
Study Commission. Submitted April 1, 1999.
15
SMR Research Corporation, "The Personal Bankruptcy Crisis, 1997: Demographics, Causes, Implications, & Solutions," Hackettstown, N.J., 1997
16
SMR Research Corporation, "The Personal Bankruptcy Crisis, 1997: Demographics, Causes, Implications, & Solutions," Hackettstown, N.J., 1997
(NOTE: Among counties with a minimum of 25.000 population).
17
Bob Blalock, “OUR VIEW: The staggering amount of money seized in a Birmingham bingo hall raid suggests how powerful and corrupting the
gambling industry could become.” Birmingham News. August 26, 2009.
18
Robert Goodman (Lemelson Professor of Environmental Design and Planning, Hampshire College), The Luck Business: The Devastating
Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling Explosion, New York: Free Press, 1995, p. 190.
19
Associated Press, “Casino backers in Ohio spent $47 M for campaign,” USA Today, December 11, 2009.
20
Earl Grinols, “Measuring Industry Externalities: The Curious Case of Casinos and Crime.” March 2001.
21
http://www.followthemoney.org/press/ReportView.phtml?r=403&ext=1
22
Kim Chandler and Charles Dean, “Gambling Interests Bet on Candidates,” Birmingham News, July 5,2009
23
Alabama Secretary of State. A-Vote Campaign Contributions. http://arc-
sos.state.al.us/cgi/elcreport.mbr/report?elc=1129&year=2007&month=1&day=31&report=C&page=name
24
Kim Chandler and Charles Dean. “Gambling Interests Bet on Candidates,” Birmingham News, July 5,2009
25
Michael Tomberlin, “Lawsuit claims Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford walked out of bingo operation with a rigged jackpot,” Birmingham News,
September 30, 2009.
26
ABC 33/40. “McGregor Largest Individual Contributor to Langford Campaign.” February 2, 2008.
27
Sherri Goodman, “Former Tuscaloosa lawmaker Bryant Melton sentenced to 15 months in two-year college probe” Birmingham News. August 14,
2008.

3 CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ALABAMA

1200 Corporate Drive, Suite 107
Birmingham, Alabama 35242