LETTERS: PART OF THE STORY

To the editor:

The ads that have been running on TV and radio in support of boats-in-moats are telling only a small part of the impact that the gambling industry is having on our state's economy and society. These ads make claims of 10,000 jobs and millions of dollars going into state coffers as a result of the gaming industry.

The facts are that the state would realize far more money coming in if people were buying things and thereby paying sales taxes instead of losing that money in gambling, the majority of which ends up going out of state. Local businesses such as restaurants, entertainment and retail establishments lose business when gambling comes to a community. That not only translates to loss of sales-tax revenue to the state, but a loss of jobs and potential jobs. Most new businesses will not even locate in a community that has gambling.

Communities that have gambling also see personal bankruptcies 18 to 23 percent higher than average, suicide rates from two to 10 times higher than average, increased crime rates, increased divorce rates and increased homelessness. Missouri has between 100,000 and 200,000 compulsive gamblers now, headed for an expected high of 265,000.

The real question should not be whether games of chance should be allowed on boats-in-moats, but how to begin to remove the economic and moral drain on our great state that gambling has brought. In other words, how to get rid of gambling.

DAVE SCHLEMPER

Belle