Isle of Capri: Clearly there is a lot at stake

This is a direct response to the Aug. 31 op-ed article by Paul Keller, senior vice president of Isle of Capri, a gambling corporation, in the Southeast Missourian. In his article, Mr. Keller profusely thanked the mayor and the elected officials for "working hard on behalf of Cape Girardeau residents to bring this opportunity to bring a gaming casino" (read a gambling place), which he described as an "economic engine" that, he promised, would perform wonders for Cape Girardeau's economy.

In fact, Mr. Keller went so far as to say, "The city has signaled that it is truly serious about competing for this opportunity." In other words, it is the city of Cape Girardeau that is dying to grab this opportunity, and not Isle of Capri.

Mr. Keller then made a statement, "Clearly there is a lot at stake here."

Mr. Keller, you have no idea how prophetic this statement of yours is. No matter how much you sugarcoat your glittering proposal and flatter Cape Girardeau's misguided administration and downtown businesses, the truth is gambling is a bad idea for any decent community.

Along with alcoholism, drug abuse, smoking and prostitution, it is one of five great evils of mankind. Gambling will promote addiction to the remaining four vices, bring crime to the community, ruin families and drive decent people away from Cape Girardeau.

In my own practice of psychiatry, over 75 percent of my patients are products of families in which at least one parent was afflicted with one of these evils. Our children will become exposed to these evils at an early age. Children of gamblers are twice as likely to resort to drug abuse and suicide. Gambling is associated with higher rate of spousal and child abuse, speeding and accidents, bankruptcy, crime, promiscuity, prostitution and alcohol and drug abuse.

Many gamblers indulge in criminal activities just to support their addiction. Philip Markoff, the Craiglist killer, and Joran van der Soot, the alleged murderer of Natalie Holloway, are but two well-known examples of gambling addicts indulging in serious crimes to support their gambling addiction. An average gambler entering treatment owes between $53,000 and $92,000. Gamblers cost U.S. businesses $40 billion a year due to lost wages and insurance claims.

The millions of dollars that are supposed to pour into Cape Girardeau's economy must come, if at all, at the expense of thousands of needy families. The money you promise to your employees to buy "homes, cars and groceries" deprives other unfortunate families exactly the same essential things. Children of these families run a serious risk of developing serious psychiatric, alcohol, drug and gambling problems. Well-heeled gamblers go to Las Vegas; they don't come to Cape Girardeau.

If Cape Girardeau must depend on a gambling place to ignite its economic engine, I am afraid the city leadership as well as business community has gone bankrupt of creative ideas. If city leaders want to bring prosperity to Cape Girardeau, they should develop a comprehensive strategy to bring in industries related to the future such as alternative energy production and conservation, recycling, waste management and the like, and not go after what is perceived by all as "easy money."

If Cape Girardeau residents vote for a casino in this beautiful city, let them know that some day a future generation will certainly judge them as those shortsighted people who were so blinded by the glitter of easy money and so deluded by the false promises of smooth-talking casino operators that they gambled away its fair name and great quality of life. Now think hard before you mark "Yes" for a casino in Cape Girardeau.

The last thing the only inland Cape in the world needs is this illusive Isle of Capri.

Dr. K.P.S. Kamath is a Cape Girardeau psychiatrist.