According to a study published in our own
state by the University of Southern Mississippi in 2000 (found
under the resources section), an estimated 5% of
our population in 1996 were "problem" gamblers and an
estimated 2% of our population have a "probable pathological"
problem with gambling. Given the over eighteen years old census estimate
for 2006 at 2,165,442 people in MS, that's 108,272 people and 43,309 people, respectively. Every gambler with
a problem costs society varying estimates in money on a yearly
basis. One study places just the pathological gambling costs at
$13,586 per pathological gambler. Looking at just the people with a
"probable pathological" problem, the costs to society
are over $588 million per year. Gambling costs us all and
not just in the counties in which it is legal. In no matter which
area of our state you live, you can read about case after case of
embezzlement that didn't used to be such a high rate. Cash for
titles businesses and pawn shops have flourished. The poverty rate
in Mississippi was just recently reported as having risen to almost 18%
which is the highest in the nation. Some of our leadership in this
state would have us believe that gambling has helped our state so
greatly in a financial sense. Their argument doesn't hold when all
the costs of gambling are considered. We are not going to accept a further encroachment of gambling into our
state. What we already have is bad enough and will continue to
cause our state to have a multitude of problems. Research the
links and articles to the right on this page and you will see what
gambling does to society and what it does cost Mississippi. ---David
P. Smith
What
did George Washington think about gambling ?
The last thing I shall mention, is first of importance and
that is, to avoid gaming. This is a vice which is productive of every possible
evil, equally injurious to the morals and health of its votaries. It is the
child of avarice, the brother of inequity, and father of mischief. It has been
the ruin of many worthy families; the loss of many a man's honor; and the
cause of suicide. To all those who enter the list, it is equally fascinating;
the successful gamester pushes his good fortune till it is overtaken by a
reverse; the losing gamester, in hopes of retrieving past misfortunes, goes on
from bad to worse; till grown desperate, he pushes at everything; and loses
his all. In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any,
being diffused) while thousands are injured.
-The Writings of George Washington from the
Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, (Washington, D.C.: United
States Government Printing Office, 1938), Vol. 26, p. 40. This advice
was given by Washington to his nephew in a letter on January 15, 1783.
 GAMBLERS
ANONYMOUS MISSISSIPPI DIRECTORY
|
|
The
2008 Budget for the Mississippi Gaming Commission provides salaries averaging
over $54,000 for 135 full-time employees. Check out the budget for this by
going to
www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/bish/e_1_2003-07-18.html
Check
out these excellent resources about Gambling:
Gov.
Haley Barbour stated during the 2003 campaign that he would not support
any expansion of gambling in this state. In the 2003 Voter Guide, he
is quoted, "While there are social problems associated with and
aggravated by gambling, the casino licensees have abided by the rules
established by the State, and both employment and tax revenues are far in
excess of what was initially anticipated. It is important, however,
that gambling not be expanded beyond those counties in which it is allowed
now, and the State must not establish a lottery."
Economic
Development; Failure of Impact Studies
Ø
IMPACT STUDIES ARE NOT COST-BENEFIT
STUDIES. More people working next
door to you may have nothing to do with the well being of citizens in your area.
Well being may actually decline.
Ø
The value of an additional job has
been estimated to be worth as little as zero to the community, or between
$0-$1,500.
In a typical county of 100,000 adults the introduction of casinos would
create additional social costs of $12.7 m annually and direct social benefits of
$4.2 m. Using $750 as the average
value to the rest of the county of a job means that casinos would have to
increase the total number of jobs in the county by more than 11,333 to improve
well being of residents, an unlikely outcome.
Ø
Gambling promoters argue gambling
creates regional jobs. This is
sometimes possible, as in the case of an Atlantic City or Las Vegas where the
area has effectively converted itself into one large casino and entertainment
center that serves primarily tourists. In
general, however, gambling:
—
Loses area jobs when local gambler
dollars are removed from the area (when they otherwise would not have been) in
the form of taxes or are spent by the casino owners or employees outside the
area.
—
Creates area jobs when outside
gambler dollars are spent locally by the casino and,
—
Loses net jobs when the first flow
is larger than the second.
—
A full accounting of dollar flows,
therefore, is needed to determine if gambling will create more jobs than it
loses.
Another point to
consider: How much
money that the state supposedly gets in the treasury from gambling does
it take to make it worth promoting something that destroys even one
person's life and family? Can anyone put a value on that?
|
