PACTOregon

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PERHAPS OTHER STATES
CAN LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES

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Oregon U.S. Representative David Wu Opposes Gorge Casino
Letter from Representative Wu cites many of the problems linked with casinos and asks Department of Interior Gale Norton to halt federal approval of a compact signed by Oregon's Governor that would allow a casino in the Columbia Gorge. (4/8/05)

ODOT Safety Study Summary
Impact of Increased Casino Traffic on Corridor Safety: An analysis of four two-mile segments having high crash rate/severity was performed to quantify the predicted increase in crash rate resulting from the increased casino traffic. The selected segments were representative of both the higher volume traffic at the east end of the corridor as well as segments in the lower volume areas at the west end. Using this representative sample of the corridor, the analysis revealed a trend that can be extrapolated to represent segments for the whole corridor. The results show that as traffic increases, the estimated number of crashes and crash rate/mile/year will also increase. An equation was derived that relates percentage increase in traffic volume to percentage increase in predicted crash rates. (4/8/05) (Also see: ODOT Open House Comments in Florence 3/30/04)

City of Florence Task Force on Casino Impacts
The change in community personality to a casino town is a serious polluting impact on the established tourist-based economy and the retirement-attracting residential housing market as well. (10/6/03)

Co-conspirators in Tragedy
More than 2 percent of adult Oregonians are estimated to be problem gamblers. Seventy-four percent of people in the state's free treatment program say video poker is their primary gambling activity, followed by slot machines, at 10 percent. Twenty-four percent of those coming for treatment report being divorced, separated or having lost a significant relationship owing to their gambling. Fifteen percent say they lost a job as result of gambling. Forty percent admit committing illegal acts as a result of their gambling. (7/5/03)

Gambling will mean big losses for everybody
When a state budget depends on legalized gambling, the relationship between the individual and the state changes. Instead of being a democratic instrument of service and protection, the state assumes the role of the con, the hustler, the pimp, appealing to people’s weaknesses in order to exploit them. The predictable result is that the state is discredited. Who wants to pay taxes to the state when the state is a hustler and a con? (4/4/03)

City of Florence Letter to Governor Kulongoski
During the course of the trust process, both Lane County and Florence were asked to comment. The County responded that it would support the trust acquisition for “cultural and historical” purposes but not for economic development purposes. Similarly, the city registered its opposition to the use of the land for casino or other economic purposes. (1/7/03)

Social Costs of Proposed Florence Casino at $996,577 per year
The overall financial cost to society, of problem gambling for Oregon, is estimated at $344,340,000 annually. (8/12/03)

U.S. Department of Interior Memo re: Gaming on Hatch Tract
10/19/99. Although it appears economic development on the Hatch Tract may have been mentioned during the administrative acquisition process, the Tribes' attorney stated in a letter to the Office of the Solicitor that at no time relevant to the trust acquisitionn did the Tribes have any plans to introduce gaming under IGRA on the Hatch Tract. (www.doi.gov/sol/M36995.pdf)

Older Adult Gambling in Oregon
An epidemiological survey of gambling and problem gambling among Oregonian adults 62 years and older. (Moore, 2001)

Adolescent Gambling in Oregon: A report to the Oregon Gambling Addiction Treatment Foundation
Age of onset may be decreasing in Oregon.  Younger respondents (13 and 14 years old) were significantly more likely to report gambling in grade school than older respondents (15 to 17 years old).  In addition, respondents who reported gambling in grade school were significantly more likely to be problem gamblers.  (Carlson, 1998)

Report to Confederated Tribes of Warms Springs Indian Reservation, Answers to Client Questions
There were 72 more prostitution offenses in casino counties in 1995 and 1996 as compared to 1993 and 1994. In non-casino counties there were 30 fewer offenses. Liquor law crimes, which is mostly alcohol possession by minors, furnishing alcoholic beverages to minors, and drinking in public, went up 705 in casino counties, but fell 1,019 elsewhere in Oregon. (EcoNorthwest Report, October 1998)

When Gambling Calls the Shots
"Imagine the public outrage if state governments began to rely heavily on liquor sales to pay for vital programs, raising revenue by encouraging people to drink more and even advertising new alcoholic concoctions on billboards. Yet the public is strangely quiet when it comes to the agressive promotion of and fiscal reliance on gambling, which, like drinking, may be harmless for most but is a severe problem for others." (Attorney General Theodore Kulongoski, The New York Times, October 5, 1996)

Agreement for Services - The Mill Casino / City of North Bend ;
Agreement for Services - City of Lincoln City / Chinook Winds Casino
One can surmise some of the true cost to a city by agreements which were negotiated between parasitic casinos and their intended "hosts".

• CasinoWatch
• NCALG - National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling
• USPACT