ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 29, 1997 TAG: 9703310036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
A guests-only casino at the Greenbrier in West Virginia may seem innocuous - but reins on gambling tend to loosen.
A GUESTS-ONLY casino is under consideration as a way to draw guests to the Greenbrier, the five-star hotel and resort in West Virginia. The idea, unfortunately, seems to have a good deal of support in that state's legislature.
Backers see only a jackpot in jobs and tax revenues. They ignore the vices that attach themselves so easily to gambling, whether it is legal or illegal: loan sharking, political corruption, prostitution.
Perhaps the guests-only policy would help contain the threat. But what has become evident with gambling is that every little, slithering inroad creates pressure to expand its presence.
The Virginia Lottery provides a timely illustration of gambling's expansionist tendencies. The lottery was started with promises that it would be advertised conservatively, to let prospective players know about it without actually encouraging them to blow the kids' lunch money on a something-for-nothing dream.
Writ large in the sky over Roanoke and three other Virginia cities Thursday, however, was the message "$56 million," the amount of Friday's Big Game jackpot, an enticement to plunk down more dollars on a chance to win it all. As Roanokers craned their necks to read the message, it looked more than anything like so much pie in the sky.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB