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in Mississippi in 1996. viiil A casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90% increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. Neighborhood disadvantage increases that risk another 69 %. 'xi Slots and other gambling machines push susceptible players to the pathological level in an average of 1.08 years, vs. 3.58 years with more "conventional" forms of x table and racetrack gambling. Gambling doubles bankruptcy. It takes three to five years for gamblers in a newly opened market to exhaust their resources. When addiction ripens in the market, so do the social costs. The most recent study of all the casino counties in the nation confirmed personal bankruptcy rates are 100% higher in counties with casinos than in counties without casinos.' Gambling increases crime Desperate to "chase" and recover gambling losses, pathological gamblers often turn to crime. Fraud and embezzlement become common among formerly hard - working and highly trusted people. Violent crimes also increase. Three years after the introduction of casinos in Atlantic City, there was a tripling of total crimes. Per capita crime there jumped from 50th in the nation to first. Comparing crime rates for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft reveals Nevada is the most dangerous place to live in the United States.lxiii 1 Expect suicides. A study of addicted gamblers revealed, "Between 20% and 30% of the respondents made actual suicide attempts. No other addictive population has had as high a prevalence for attempts. l xiv Nevada has been the highest in the nation for suicides for 10 of the last 12 years. Grinols, Earl L., "Cutting the Cards and Craps, right thinking about gambling economics." P. 14. Lill Grinols, Earl L. Gambling in America, Costs and Benefits, p.p. 55 -92. HUE Abt, Vickie, Ph.D., Univ. Penn. Cited in Executive Summary, Casinos in Florida: An analysis of the Economic and Social Impacts, for the Florida Office of Planning and Budgeting 1 ivl Shaffer, Howard, Harvard University addictions department, quoted by Kindt in Managerial and Decision Economics, 22: p. 17 -63 bjj American Psychiatric Association, DSM -IV, P.673. I l Shaffer, H.J. & Hall, M.N. (1996). Estimating prevalence of adolescent gambling disorders: A quantitative synthesis and guide toward standard gambling nomenclature. Journal of Gambling Studies, 12, 193 -214. 1 National Gambling Impact Study Commission, "Final Report" Sec. 4, p..5. 2