"In a recent letter to the editor in the Appeal-Democrat, Enterprise Rancheria community relations spokesman Charles Altekruse wrote, "'Crime, alcoholism, broken homes' — Hello! They're already here!" Going back to my bar simile — does he mean that since we already have lots of drunks, what does it matter if we make it even easier for them to drink?

What does Enterprise Rancheria promise to do to help problem gamblers? They promise they'll make a contribution of no less than $60,000 a year to a Yuba County organization to treat and prevent pathological gambling disorders. I wonder how much good that will do because that amount is just about enough to pay for a single new person to treat everyone with a gambling problem.

In an August 2010 Christian Science Monitor article, the author wrote that a National Gambling Impact Study Commission 1999 study calculated that gambling costs society about $1,200 per adult in social costs (bankruptcies, divorces, etc.) and that about 2.5 percent of American adults were problem gamblers.

That means that with a combined population of around 173,000 people, Yuba and Sutter counties have about 3,460 addicted gamblers. The works out to roughly $4 million a year in social costs — and the tribe is going to donate $60,000?"

Get the Story:
John Hollis: Casino plan too costly a jackpot (The Marysville/Yuba City Appeal-Democrat 10/5)

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Jack Duran: Off-reservation casino move supports sovereignty (9/27)
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