Gambling: Its Effect on Families and Communities in North Dakota

Historically Speaking

Gambling has been around for a long time. Dice and playing cards can be traced back to primitive people who cast bones or sticks into the air. Written accounts cite that Nero, in the times of the Roman Empire, was what could be described as compulsively addicted to gambling. Even in this country's early history there was a lottery to raise money for the colonial army in 1775.

North Dakota's current cycle of gambling began with legislation in 1977 when bingo, raffles, pull tabs and punchboards became legal. As part of the search for new revenue sources, North Dakota and other states turned to forms of gambling as a method to increase voluntary taxation in the 1960s and 1970s. Other games of chance were added during the years that followed. In the 1980s, Indian tribes won the right to operate gaming facilities on their reservations. In 1992, North Dakota's first Native American tribal gaming casino was opened. Several others opened in 1993.

North Dakota Gambling Statistics

• Reported first in the nation for per capita spending on charity gaming bets.
• Charitable gambling receipts exceeded $284 million during 1994.
• Per capita spending on charitable gaming was $449.36 during 1994.
• Reported the highest variety of games of chance in the nation for 1994.
• Tax gained through charitable gaming dollars for calendar year 1994 included $7.9 million in excise tax and $3.1 million in gaming tax. Bingo tax revenues returned to the state were $2.7 million.
• Charitable gaming gross proceeds from April 1, 1977, through December 31, 1994, were $2.7 billion dollars.

Tribal casino and parimutuel betting figures are unavailable.

Effects of Gambling

Gambling is not unique to this time. It has been around for centuries. The effects on families and communities have also been around for a long time. These include economic as well as societal or social effects. Here are some examples. Can you name others?

Economic Effects

Positive

• more jobs
• may provide higher wages
• customers drawn from outside the state
• support of community through charitable gifts/grants.

Negative

• money used for gambling and not for family living, church, charities
• money needed for treatment of compulsive gamblers
• more law enforcement needed
• potential for crime.

Social Effects of Gambling

Positive

• people feel good about employment
• gaming is a recreation, a break for people from the everyday problems and pressures of life
• people find themselves engaged in activity.

Negative

• time away from family, friends and other activities
• loss of trust between individuals and family members if gambling is a problem
• need for gambling money can lead to debt and crime.

Continuum of Gamblers

Within the entire population, there is a wide range of behavior with gambling.

• Non-gambler does not exhibit gambling behavior. Several motivations include:

Anti-gambling because of religious, moral or even political reasons; would-be gamblers who are not in proximity to gambling activity; ignorant non-gamblers with no practical knowledge or experience with gambling; and uninterested people who are knowledgeable about gambling but have no interest in it.

• Casual gambler gambles on impulse or happenstance. Curiosity and social reasons are motivators. This may be the start of a gambling career or just an unrelated episode for a person who will never gamble on a regular basis.
• Occasional gambler gambles through a determined act. Common motivations are escape or a special occasion. A less common but significant motivation is hope.
• Professional gambler gambles as part of a studied approach to a game where the element of skill is sufficient to give a player an advantage. The motivation for gambling is economic gain. The professional gambler gambles to live; the compulsive gambler lives to gamble.
• Problem gambler exhibits the potential for becoming a pathological gambler.
• Compulsive (pathological) gambler has a chronic and progressive failure to resist impulses to gamble. The gambling behavior then compromises, disrupts or damages personal, family or work.

For many people gambling is not a problem; it is social or occasional. For others, it becomes a way of life. It guides their work, relationships and economics and takes over. This is an illness called compulsive gambling. Compulsive gambling is a progressive illness that may take years to develop. There are signs that detect gambling problems.

Signs of Gambling Problems

• Increasing the frequency and the amount of money gambled
• Spending an excessive amount of time gambling at the expense of job or family time
• Being preoccupied with gambling or with obtaining money with which to gamble
• Creating a special and intense pleasure, an aroused sense of being in action
• Continuing to gamble despite negative consequences such as large losses or work or family problems caused by gambling
• As a means to cope with loneliness, anger, stress or depression
• "Chasing" or the urgent need to keep gambling -- often with larger bets -- or the taking of greater risks to make up for a loss or series of losses
• Borrowing money to gamble, taking out secret loans or maxing out credit cards
• Bragging about wins but not talking about losses
• Frequent mood swings, higher when winning, lower when losing
• Gambling for longer periods of time or with more money than originally planned
• Secretive behavior such as hiding lottery tickets and betting slips, having mail or bills sent to work, a P.O. box or other address

It's About Choices

Several guidelines have been outlined to help individuals reduce the risk of developing a gambling problem.

• The decision to gamble is a personal choice. No one should feel pressured to gamble.
• Gambling is not essential for having a good time.
• Acceptable losses need to be established before starting to gamble. People need to expect that they will lose more often than they will win.
• Borrowing money to gamble should be avoided and dis-couraged.
• Times when people should not gamble include when it interferes with other responsibilities, when in recovery, when money exceeds a predetermined limit and when gambling is illegal.
• Illegal gambling should be avoided and discouraged.
• Use of alcohol or other drugs when gambling is risky.
• Reasons that present high risk for problems include stress, loneliness, anger, depression, trying to make up for losses, trying to impress others or grief.

You have the option of choice -- to gamble or not -- in a low-risk manner.

What to do When Gambling is a Problem

Compulsive gambling is a diagnosable, treatable illness that affects the gambler, the family and the employer. It is called the hidden illness since there is no smell on the breath or stumbling on steps or slurred speech. Yet it is as debilitating as alcohol or drug addiction.

For more information about compulsive gambling and the family and signs of compulsive gambling, contact the Council on Compulsive Gambling of North Dakota through the HELP-LINE, 1-800-472-2911.

References

Abt, V., Smith, J., & Christiansen, E.M. (1985). The Business of Risk: Commercial Gambling in Mainstream America. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

LaFleur,T. & LaFleur, B. (1995). LaFleur's 1995 World Gambling Abstract. Boyds, MD: TLF Publications, Inc.

Martinez, T.M. (1983). The Gambling Scene: Why Do People Gamble. Springfield, IL: C.C. Thomas.

Orford, J. (1985). Excessive Appetites: A Psychological View of Addictions. Plymouth, Devon, Great Britain: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Svedson, R. (1993). Gambling: Choices and Guidelines. Anoka, MN: Minnesota Institute of Public Health.

Worsnop, R.L. (March 18, 1994). Gambling Boom: Will the Gaming Industry's Growth Hurt Society. Congressional Quarterly Inc. 4:11, 251.

(1994) Gambling: A Challenge for Youth. North Dakota State University Extension Service adapted from original work by Minnesota Extension Service.

(August 1994). 1993 Report on Charity Gaming in North America. National Association of Fund-raising Ticket Manufacturers.

(January 17, 1995). Overview of Gaming Activity for 1977-1994 report. Office of Attorney General in North Dakota -- Gaming Division.

(1994) North Dakota Games of Chance, Analysis of Gaming Activity for the calendar year 1994 report. North Dakota Attorney General's Office.

Resources

Council on Compulsive Gambling of North Dakota, Inc., P.O. Box 10292, Fargo, ND 58106

North Dakota Attorney General's Office -- Gaming Division, 600 East Boulevard, 17th Floor, Bismarck, ND 58505

FS-557, July 1995