High Stakes

Politicians have become addicted to gambling revenues as a kinder alternative to tax increases or spending cuts to eliminate state budget shortfalls. Gambling is now legalized in every state except Hawaii and Utah. In 2010 alone, 35 states considered legislation to expand gambling. Once confined to Las Vegas, casinos are now within driving distance for most Americans. Today, they house more than 850,000 slot machines. But there is a darker side to all the flashing lights and sounding bells. Skolnik, a former reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, shows that America's addiction to gambling has a major social cost that contributes to higher rates of divorce, domestic violence, substance abuse, personal bankruptcy, lost productivity, and suicide. The federal government, which rakes in $6 billion in withholding taxes from casinos on gambling winnings each year, doesn't spend a penny on research relating to problem gambling, although it allocates $2.5 billion to drug and alcohol abuse programs. Almost all research on problem gambling is financed by the gaming industry itself.