Pastors urge safeguards should casino be approved

By David Myers

Southwest Kansas Register

Editor’s note: The following is Part I of a two-part series.

The Catholic Pastors of Ford County are urging that strong safeguards be in place should Ford County voters answer “yes” on June 26 to a state owned and operated casino in Dodge City.

According to a statement by the pastors which will be published in the next SKR, safeguards would include: ensuring that the moral and legal integrity of the games will be assured, and involvement of any criminal element will be prevented; placing limits on the amounts that can be wagered and on gambling credit; making sure the prohibition against underage gambling is strictly enforced; and having in place support systems for those who fall victim to the negative consequences of gambling.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. …”

What would be the benefits to having a casino in Ford County?

It would reportedly be the only casino between Dodge City and Cripple Creek, Colo., thus drawing a large number of tourists to the region. According to one estimate, total revenue from the casino would be approximately $58 million, with only 34 percent of that coming from within a 50 mile radius of Dodge City. The casino would be expected to draw people from southern Nebraska, eastern Colorado, and northwestern Texas, which, if accurate, would be a boon to other Dodge City businesses. Gamblers east of Dodge City are expected to go to the Sedgwick County casino, should that casino be approved.

Ford County is the first of four regions in Kansas to vote on the state owned casino. If passed, the county would receive approximately 3 percent ($1.7 million) in annual revenues.

Apparently the casino already has amassed large support. In at least one poll, conducted by the Dodge City Daily Globe May 25, more than twice as many people – nearly 350 -- said they would vote for the casino than those who said they’d vote against – or approximately 150.

Whether a casino will be a blessing or a curse to Ford County, and in particular, Dodge City, depends largely on whom you ask. While a local government representative said that law officials are concerned about the effects of the casino on local crime, a study funded by the National Institute of Justice reported that “Casinos do not appear to have any general or dramatic effects on crime….” The findings were published by the American Gaming Association, which also touted research into “pharmaceutical treatments used to treat … disordered gambling.” The same group goes on to regard gambling as a deterrent to crime: “…the social and economic benefits that gambling seem to offer to communities are effective deterrents to criminal activity.”

What effects a casino might have on crime in Dodge City are yet to be seen. What is more certain is the unfortunate side effect betting has on a percentage of gamblers.

According to the Christiansen Capital Advisors (CCA) 2006 report, “1,280 to 1,920 persons will become pathological gamblers as a result of a casino” in Ford County.

The ones who are at the most risk of acquiring a gambling problem are those who have the most to lose: the poor, the elderly and the young. According to findings in a report from the Harvard University’s Center for Addiction Studies, “…these groups, especially the poor and the elderly, lose significantly more in gambling as a proportion of their total income than do those in higher income groups.”

In a report from the 1999 National Gambling Impact Study Commission, 50 percent of seniors in the United States admitted that they had gambled, an increase of more than 60 percent from the same study in 1974.

A more recent survey of 843 seniors found that 70 percent had taken part in some sort of gambling activity in the past 12 months. Approximately 11 percent of those were “at-risk” gamblers, placing more than $100 on a single bet, and/or losing more than they can afford.

Glenn Thompson, Executive Director of Stand Up for Kansas, cited a study from the State of Connecticut, which reported that “twenty-nine percent of [casino] customers are pathological or problem gamblers.” Thompson noted a study which suggested that more than “80 percent of revenue” comes from “20 percent of customers.”

Approximately 2 percent of annual revenue of the Ford County casino, or $1,150,000, will go into a Problem Gaming Fund to address the issue.

Kathy Bassett, who grew up on a farm near St. John and now lives in Topeka, urged people who face a gambling addiction not to be afraid to get help.

Bassett lived through the suicide of her brother David, a trained counselor who was at the mercy of a gambling addiction. Her son was imprisoned for theft to support his gambling addiction, and her mother, now in her 70s, has had to continue working to pay off mountains of debt.

“We must … rid our hearts of the stigma attached to the word ‘addiction,’” she wrote, “so that pride and shame do not stop gamblers from getting the help they so desperately need. Two of the hallmarks of any addiction are secrecy and shame. People with gambling addictions need professional help.” To read her story, go to www.oagaa.org/html/kathy_s_story.htm.

In his column, the bishop writes, “The passion for gambling always has the potential to become an enslavement…. Our own parishes, together with other faith communities, and people of good will, need to ensure that social services and support systems will be available, in every appropriate language, for those individuals and families who fall victim to the negative consequences found in other communities where gambling has been expanded.”