Recently, the owners of the Mohegan Sun casino in
Connecticut have begun considering adding additional facilities in order to
make gaming more geographically convenient for customers. This is being done in
order to keep customers whom might be more attracted to new casinos being
developed in nearby Massachusetts. The building of more casinos has become a
hot topic among Connecticut politicians resulting in two sides: those who
believe in the economic benefits of the casino, and those who do not want to further
promote gambling problems and addictions.
It has been found that increased accessibility of casinos
can significantly increase the possibility of one growing a gambling addiction.
Cheryl Chandler, interim executive director of the Connecticut Council on
Problem Gambing, notes that “within 50 miles of a casino, the rates of
pathological and problem gambling can double.” She goes onto note that adding
new gaming facilities would almost certainly trigger a need for more education,
counseling, and other support services to combat problem gambling. The good
news to this issue is that the Mohegan tribe has been a valuable partner for
groups concerned with problem gambling by supporting education and counseling
services.
On the other side, current law requires the state to
assess the economic and social impacts of gambling in the state every 10 years.
The last study undertaken in 2008 recognized the casino’s major contributions
to the state’s economy in terms of employment as well as revenues to the state
budget from taxes. The question now arises whether the government should
intervene and attempt to block the Mohegan tribe’s efforts. As the new casinos
develop in Massachusetts, will the loss in employment and revenues outweigh the
potential social costs of problem gambling?
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