Who's the ADDICT?

The state's BIG bet

By Chris Honoré and Andrew Scot Bolsinger
Ashland Daily Tidings

Each day, across Oregon, they come to restaurants, bars, small cafes and neighborhood grocery stores to place a bet. Adults of all ages slide onto stools and look down at the bright neon lights of an array of electronic gambling machines, buy a lottery ticket, bet the horses, play Bingo or head off to an Indian casino to try their luck.

For many Oregonians, life is a gamble and the house odds tilt heavily against the bettor, funding a billion-dollar industry that continues to grow. In Oregon, the “house” is the golden-domed capital in Salem.

The bookie is the state of Oregon

Residents are encouraged to place a bet, roll the dice or lay out a buck — or two, or 10 — in the hopes of hitting that elusive jackpot, meaning some serious, life-changing money. It’s happened, of course, and the state will be the first to swear it, offering up big-time winners giving testimonials on its Web site.

The state’s involvement in gambling exceeds merely providing the vehicle, be it a lottery ticket or a video poker machine. The Oregon Lottery Commission’s extensive marketing plan includes an ongoing array of new games, a promotional Web site that encourages play and a marketing campaign that touts the dream of success.

There’s a pot at the end of the rainbow, they tell us both subtly and not-so-subtly: just a scratch or two away, one push of a button, the turn of one oh-so-lucky card, placing that long-shot bet on a winning horse. What the bookie never explains is that all that cash spent trying to win all that cash can indeed change your life. In ways never anticipated.

While celebrating its 20th anniversary, the state recently upped the ante by introducing line games — the electronic version of slot machines — in bars and restaurants on July 1. With the approval of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, the Oregon State Lottery Commission voted unanimously to allow electronic versions of the “one-armed bandits” to join the state’s network of video poker terminals.

More than 2,000 locations across the state will offer these slots, and the projection by the governor’s office is that $120 million will be raised from the new games.

The governor is betting the budget on the likely hope that we will bet even more.

It looks to be a good bet. Gambling is prevalent in Oregon, where residents lose an average of $447 per person annually — 25 percent more than the national average.

But that’s not all bad, according to many in government, who liken the state’s involvement in gambling to the state’s sale of alcohol. While increased availability may create problems for a small segment of the population, the vast majority regards the games as innocuous entertainment — one that provides the state a needed revenue stream.

“I know senior citizens that take the bus up to Seven Feathers (Casino) and stay the night,” said Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland. “It’s a highlight of their month. They have a good time with it, and they don’t ruin their lives.”

A brief history

Gambling’s source in Oregon reaches back more than half a century.

In 1933, the state passed legislation that allowed parimutuel wagering on horses and dogs. The trickle stayed that way for decades. Social gambling was legalized in Oregon in 1973, allowing counties and cities to authorize what is referred to as social gaming (usually poker or blackjack), conducted in private businesses, clubs or places of public accommodation — so long as the house wasn’t taking a cut. As of 2003, 10 of the 33 counties as well as 34 cities in Oregon have ordinances allowing social gaming.

A constitutional amendment was passed in 1976 allowing charitable gaming. Religious and fraternal organizations were permitted to offer Bingo, lotto and raffle games as a way of raising money for charity.

Gradually, gambling was becoming ubiquitous in Oregon.

In 1984 a constitutional amendment creating the Oregon State Lottery was overwhelmingly passed by voters. The mandate of the lottery, according to the Oregon Constitution, is to “produce the maximum amount of net revenues to benefit the public purpose.” A minimum of 84 percent of the lottery’s yearly net revenues must be returned in the form of prizes and benefits to the public.

In 1992, the Oregon Lottery received approval to operate video lottery terminals. Establishments where these terminals are allowed must have a license to sell alcoholic beverages, and there is a limit of six machines per location. The maximum bet on these machines is $2 and the ceiling on the jackpots is $600. Today, there are close to 10,000 video poker machines in 2,000 outlets throughout the state. Video poker accounts for more than 73 percent of all lottery revenues.

“We had no idea of how much money we were going to be getting,” said Secretary of State Bill Bradley, who then served in the state Legislature.

Revenues for lottery sales in 2004 exceeded $800 million, with an array of games that include instant tickets (Scratch-its), Megabucks, the multistate Powerball, Sports Action, Keno, Video Poker, video line games, Pick 4 and Win for Life.

According to a 2003 report by ECONorthwest of Portland, $1.069 billion was generated by gaming in 2002. Oregonians spent $1.78 billion on gambling of all types, in state and out of state, which amounts to $446.52 per adult.

“The state of Oregon is addicted to gambling,” said Kim Oveson, the human resources and quality assurance manager of the Addictions Recovery Center in Medford.

The lottery is more critical, asserts Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, because the Republican Party is absolutely against any form of revenue increase “other than lottery funds,” and the voters steadfastly vote down sales tax increases.

But, when the governor made his push to add line games, Buckley says, “There was no opposition in the Legislature to that.”

Bates, however, argues for taking a broader view when discussing the influence of the lottery on the state.

“I personally try to keep this thing in perspective,” he said. “Overall it’s a small percentage of the budget. The perception is that it’s huge, but that’s not true.”

What’s the harm?

Potential harm to residents and communities increases with the prevalance of gambling, according to a report by the Center for Arizona Policy. Ken W. Karouzos summarized the attendant fallout from gambling by showing that where gambling is more prevalent, so too are such things as bankruptcies, abuse, divorce and even suicide.

For example, Karousos sources a national study that found that in counties where there is at least one gaming establishment, bankruptcies increased by 18 percent. If a county had five or more places of gambling, the increased rate was 35 percent. Nevada, ranked 35th in population, ranks fourth in total bankruptcies.

According to Dr. David Phillips, a University of California-San Diego sociologist, “Las Vegas displays the highest rate of suicide in the nation, both for residents of Las Vegas and for visitors.”

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission has reported that children of compulsive gamblers are often the victims of abuse as well as neglect. Children are often found abandoned in casinos, and infants have died in locked cars while their parents gambled.

Crime is another factor. A U.S. News and World Report analysis found average national crime rates in casino communities to be 84 percent higher than communities without casinos. Nevada ranked first in crime rates among the 50 states in both 1995 and 1996, based on analysis by FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics.

While the problems associated with big-time gambling in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City may seem foreign in a discussion of Oregon, the rise of local gambling suggests otherwise.

Up front

State officials are not in complete denial about the downside of gambling. Nor are state leaders unaware of the problems gambling is creating, said the ARC’s Oveson, highlighting a new requirement of the placement of 800 numbers on each machine for gamblers who want to call for help.

Still, the primary goal of the lottery commission is clear: get more people playing lottery games, more often. In this vein, the Oregon Lottery Commission does extensive marketing, including an advertising campaign that nurtures the dream of success through big winners’ effusive testimonials. On the Web page are statements from folks across the state — and even just down the highway — extolling the benefits reaped from a big win. “Read all about how fun it is to win with the Oregon Lottery,” The Web page asserts. “Mason Watson lives in Talent,” the page states, next to the picture of the $1,000 prize winner.

Bates argues that the state is much better prepared to manage gambling through the help it offers and the controls it places on the trade.

“You are not going to stop people from gambling,” Bates said. “You can either do it up front and get some positives out of it, or you can push it underground.”

Tomorrow: The bookie is the counselor — A gambling addict can turn left into a strip mall on Ashland Street and get treatment, or just a few blocks down the road turn right and find an array of ways to gamble. Both options are sponsored by a state that is both the bookie and the counselor for Oregon residents.