THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By FRANK R. WOLF
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
It is no secret that Virginia has been targeted by well-healed Las Vegas and Atlantic City influence peddlers as their new gambling haven. Casino gambling interests spent more than $1.1 million during the past two years in their effort to bring riverboat or dockside gambling to the commonwealth. Virginia, which is known for its beautiful beaches, mountains and historic sites, would become the newest state to have slot machines and card tables if gambling proponents get their way.
Virginians are concerned about the political influence wielded by the gambling interests who promise much but rarely deliver. When they do deliver, it is usually in the form of increased crime, political corruption, suicides, bankruptcies, cannibalization of businesses and family breakups. This is not what Virginia needs.
Ironically, gambling lobbyists' main competition may be the commonwealth itself. The concern about gambling is heightened when the state is pushing this pernicious pastime. The Virginia Lottery is seeking to put casino-style Keno games in neighborhoods throughout the commonwealth.
The new 1996-1998 budget, which the General Assembly will consider in the coming weeks, contains a provision which projects raising $75.3 million from new lottery games. Keno, which is an instant-win casino-style game and requires a video terminal, is reported to be highly addictive. It would probably be located in restaurants/bars, shopping centers and government offices throughout Virginia.
Valerie Lorenz, executive director of the Maryland Compulsive Gambling Center, calls Keno the ``crack cocaine of legalized gambling.'' This analogy is flawed, however, because unlike crack cocaine, Keno is legitimized by the state. The state is becoming a predator, and like a predator, Keno will pick the weakest and most vulnerable among us to feed the appetite of the Virginia government.
Revenues from Keno are not ``painless,'' and state policymakers should be careful not to succumb to the same lure of elusive, easy money which entraps the compulsive and pathological gambler. Maryland, which runs about 3,000 Keno outlets in addition to a state lottery, bears incredible costs due to compulsive gambling. In 1990, the Maryland Task Force on Gambling Addiction found that Maryland's 50,000 compulsive gamblers cost the state $1.5 billion per year in lost work productivity and monies stolen or embezzled and state taxes not paid. Also, the total cumulative indebtedness of Maryland's compulsive gamblers in $4 billion.
There are also human costs to increasing the availability of gambling outlets. Within two years of legalizing video-lottery terminals, the tiny province of Nova Scotia, Canada, went from zero to 12 chapters of Gamblers Anonymous. Outraged over widely publicized reports of broken marriages and wrecked lives, Nova Scotians forced the government to remove 2,400 machines.
The government, which should be the protector of society's most vulnerable, should not prey on its citizens in order to make a quick buck. Creating a class of addicted gamblers to fuel greater government spending is not wise policy. Moreover, it may cost the government more in the long run when it then must deal with the problems it has created.
In addition to the new addicted gamblers the Virginia Lottery would create, the newest addict will be the state government itself. As revenues from Keno fill state coffers, the Virginia Lottery will be under increasing pressure to maintain the ``painless'' stream of cash by enticing new players with more sophisticated and targeted advertising. New casino-style games will be demanded, more machines will be installed in unacceptable locations and more Virginians will become addicted. In the case of restaurants and bars, Keno will be combined with alcohol, thereby becoming even more addictive and damaging.
It would be unfortunate for Virginia to become like other states which have created numerous problems by legalizing gambling, and it would be even more reprehensible if the Virginia government was the purveyor of such problems. According to a front-page article from the Dec. 3, 1995, Minneapolis edition of the Star Tribune titled ``Dead Broke'': ``Legalized gambling in Minnesota has created a broad new class of addicts, victims and criminals whose activities are devastating families and costing taxpayers and businesses millions of dollars.''
The article stated that ``thousands have ruined themselves financially, some have committed crimes and a handful have killed themselves. Thousands more will live for years on the edge of bankruptcy, sometimes working two or three jobs to pay off credit-card debt.''
Renowned columnist William Safire has called state-sponsored gambling ``a banana-republic abomination that undermines national values.'' I believe state-sponsored Keno would undermine Virginia values and cause irreparable harm. What's more, it would open the door to the gambling interests which are poised to sink their claws into Virginia's profitable family-tourism trade. Virginia's character would change forever, and that is not worth such a big gamble. MEMO: Mr. Wolf is a U.S. representative for Virginia's 10th District. by CNB