According to Victor Preston, a commissioner with the Modoc tribes Susanville Casino in Northeastern California, a possible pitfall can be that kids on reservations with successful gaming enterprises inherit large trust funds when they turn 18. For some, such easy money can be a disincentive to continue school or work. For the non-Indian communities surrounding reservations and rancherias with casinos, cultural destruction and lack of ambition are the least of their concerns. Rural communities resent their tranquility being interrupted by constant traffic and large, flashy buildings. They worry about drugs, mafia infiltrations and political infighting bringing violence into their towns.
Resentments flare over issues of taxation and regulation, which fall outside of local jurisdictions.
The communities have no power to stop a casino from opening, restrict where it is built or control it once it is there. The feeling of powerlessness frustrates many, especially those who feel their communities are suffering. And there are many who feel that the impact of casinos reaches far beyond the reservation boundaries. According to religious crusaders against gambling, casinos ruin lives and cannibalize existing businesses, a sentiment echoed by business owners in towns surrounding casinos. One of these is Bill Brunetti, a supermarket owner in Lake County, an area north of the Wine Country that is a frequent tourist destination and home to several Indian casinos.