THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160014
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Time was when most college-bound Americans went away to school. Now colleges come within commuting distance of most students. This post-World War II revolution in higher education, most agree, has produced benefits to society far outweighing costs.
Time was when most Americans who gambled - legally - went away to casinos in Nevada and, later, New Jersey. Today legalized gambling has come to the people in 48 of the 50 states. This more recent revolution was initially welcomed by states as a revenue-raising panacea but now is being questioned.
Specifically, the question is: Does the revenue benefit justify the growth in compulsive gambling and suicides and the negative impacts on crime, family life, retail sales and societal stability?
For more and more people, the answer today is: No. Some academic studies suggest the social costs may be three times the revenue gambling produces.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch examined the issue recently, noting that although wagering has mushroomed in the past five years and remains the country's fastest-growing industry, lately voters in state after state have rejected gaming propositions.
All this has a Virginia connection; in fact, two of them:
First, legislation to expand gambling has been introduced in the 1996 General Assembly. One bill, to permit riverboat gambling casions, has been killed. This is good. But a proposal for Virginia to join the multistate Powerball lotto game - which, along with keno, Governor Allen proposed last month, then dropped because of legislative resistance - has been revived. This is bad.
With the lottery a fixture and pari-mutuel betting a virtual reality, Virginia already is hooked on gambling. Casinos and Powerball would advance this presence another notch and into a new, perhaps more risky form.
Second, Republican Rep. Frank R. Wolf of Northern Virginia has proposed a national study that would scrutinize both the economic and social effects of legalized gambling in America.
This idea has upset gaming interests in part because of its proponent. Although Wolf has promised the investigation would be impartial, he himself is an outspoken adversary, who says things like: ``For government to bring in the predator to prey on its own people troubles me. And that's what you're doing when you bring gambling in.''
The estimated $500 billion or more Americans bet legally each year makes this a high-stakes issue for the gaming industry, which describes its activity as harmless fun that produces vital revenue for state and local governments. The stakes are even higher for the country if the negative consequences for society are as pervasive as critics claim.
A national study by the right kind of commission - one that, for example, Congressman Wolf would have no part in - would be useful. We endorse it.
This might encourage states like Virginia to defer action on new games in order to gain insights from the findings of a credible panel. by CNB