LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: NEW CHANCE TO REJECT GAMBLING

To the Editor:

Here we go again, voting on the question of riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau. I'll never forget the elation I felt when I heard that it had been defeated only to within 12 hour~s feel the letdown of realizing that we would have to fight it once again. ~As has already been said, riverboat gambling i~t is like venereal disease. It is easier to get than get rid of.

Proponents have tried to convince us that riverboat gambling is an opportunity of a lifetime for Cape, that it means more money to the city, that gamblers would be big spenders. Well, the figures just don't add up.

Using the Boyd Group's own figures, a sixth grader can see that with "average loss per `tourist' of $43 (on the ~Alton ~Belle it is $78) and a million "tourists" the loss for people on the boat or profit for Las Vegas operators is $45 million (possibly $78 million using Alton Belle's figures). This does not include entry fee and food and drink.

According to the St. Louis e~xperts (St. Louis Business Journal, June 21, 1993, Larry ~Bushoung) 80 percent of the monies spent on the St. Louis boats will be spent by St. Louis area residents. Money that "would have otherwise been spent on other form~ of entertainment -- or remained in the accounts of St. Louis banks." There is no indication that the same situation will not exist here in Southeast Missouri.

To put this in perspective, Cape County will lose approximately the sa~me as what the flood has cost this year (~$10 million) -- every year --~ as long as the boats are here.

The profit for Las Vegas per year equals the cost of the new ~Missouri-Illinois bridge. In other terms, the profit for Las Vegas would be $10 million more than the $25 million school bond that we turned down last spring.

Sure, out of the $45 million profit of "gross receipts from gambling" $8.1 million will go to the state and $900,000 will go to the city. ~Another $1 million will come from the city tax per "tourist" that goes on the boat. One has to ask, however, if 2 percent of the profit for the city is worth the 98 percent loss to the Southeast Missouri Heartland.

When a parasite attaches to the skin of the host, there is an increased blood flow around the area of penetration.~ Meanwhile, however, the life blood is siphoned from the rest of the body. The analogy is economically appropriate.

At best, gambling is a waste of time, talent, and money.

Unfortunately, it is also a threat to family life (There is no place for children in a gambler's life.), legitimate business (the most common means of acquiring more money for the 4 percent pathologic and problem gambler is forgery, fraud, and embezzlement), and personal self esteem (Suicide among gamblers is 10 to 15 times the national average.)

What concerned parent wouldn't be bothered by the thought of a gambling boat six blocks from their child's university knowing that the incidence of problem and pathologic gambling is twice (9 percent) that of the adults?

Illegitimate gambling is a natural partner to "legitimate" gambling for four reasons. 1) There are no limits. 2) Easy loans (loan sharking) 3) They don't report winnings to the government. 4) There are no taxes paid to the government so theoretically there is a higher payout.

Serious gamblers ultimately fall to the temptation of illegitimate gambling and ultimately lose. These kinds of gamblers make up to 40~ percent of our prison population and flock to new areas for "fresh blood." Young gamblers are also very vulnerable, but the older generation is as well. Many a retiree has lost his life savings when he combined his "extra time and money" with the games of chance.

Cape has a chance -- a chance to say "No" once again. The question apparently cannot be raised for another year after this defeat.

It seems reasonable to consider what kind of action might be taken to "slay the dragon." If a petition of 2,200 signatures can bring the question to bear again for the consideration of riverboat gambling in a mere six months, cannot another petition be brought to bear "to break the tie" if per chance it should be passed this time?

Or, more properly, could we petition to vote whether Cape Girardeau County should be "a dry county" regarding gambling and bar riverboat gambling henceforth and forevermore?

DR. RICHARD MARTIN

Cape Girardeau