Opinion: Gaming brings more crime and poverty to communities

Almost every economically depressed region in America is begging for a casino salvation. Casinos have opened in nearly ever major city in Ohio. Baltimore residents are celebrating new gambling jobs at the Horseshoe. Crime-ridden Springfield, Massachusetts, is approved for an MGM-led casino. Just across the border, four casinos are planned for the depressed areas of upstate New York.

These poor underemployed regions are being sold a scam. This racket portrays itself as a great deal: local people get a load of new jobs, the state collects more tax revenue, and the region will boom as it brings in wealthy tourists from beyond the region. There are dreams of high-class gamblers coming in from around the globe, their c-notes trickling to the hotel staff and the dealers, all the way down to struggling local attractions and the new, locally owned coffee shops that will hopefully spring up in the casino's shadow.

Maybe Bobby Flay or David Chang or some other famous chef will come. And eventually, if all goes right, country music stars and stand-up comedians will be lining up to perform at an entertainment venue and upscale mall. This is part of Phase Two, scheduled to kick off in 2024.

What really happens is this: jobs are created, temporarily. Then the casinos and the statehouses prey upon the elderly and the poor. The table games, which justified hiring locals, are gradually replaced by slots, and maybe a sports-bookie behind barred windows. Shambolic pensioners and working class gambling addicts spend their days sitting at slot machines that are designed by geniuses who study the art and brain-science of addiction. Complimentary bus rides are offered to transport more of the indebted and dependent to the cash-gobbler.