The Rincon indictments, I fear, are only the beginning. According to a 1994 study, for every dollar that a community will receive from gambling revenues, three dollars will be needed to cover the additional costs incurred by gambling such as infrastructure expenditures, regulatory costs, expenses to the criminal justice system and large social-welfare costs. Close to 10 million Americans now have a gambling habit that is out of control. Unquestionably, compulsive gambling is linked to the accessibility and acceptability of gambling in communities. According to one study, the number of compulsive gamblers will increase between 100-550 percent when gambling is brought into an area.
Research now shows that gambling is the fastest growing teenage addiction.
In my state of Arizona alone there are 14,000 young compulsive gamblers. And 20 percent of compulsive gamblers attempt suicide. Fundamentally, increased gambling results in ruined lives and destroyed families and businesses. Apart from the social price, gambling presents huge economic costs to our communities. Again, my commitment to sound economic development on Indian reservations is sincere.