Anne Arundel County Council members and community leaders renewed their opposition to slot machine gambling in Laurel on Thursday as a group seeking to defeat the November ballot referendum shifted its focus to local voters.
The area around the Laurel Park racetrack is designated as the location of the largest of five slots parlors, getting up to a third of the 15,000 machines that would be authorized in the constitution.
“Slot machines are the crack cocaine of gambling,” said Council Member Joshua Cohen, who represents the Annapolis area. “Slot machines are going to suck money out of people?s wallets,” and the only local businesses benefiting from them will be addiction counselors and lawyers specializing in bankruptcy and divorce.
Council Member Jamie Benoit, whose district includes the Laurel area, said his biggest concern was the negative effect of the equivalent of traffic from a pro football game every week straining county resources in roads, water, police and fire. He said based on the experience at Delaware Park, there would be 50,000 to 100,000 people a week patronizing a “racino.”
“I?m trying to get people thinking more locally,” Benoit said.
The Annapolis event was part of the media campaign being waged by Marylanders United Against Slots. Scott Arceneaux, coordinator of the group, said people who initially support slot machine gambling can change their minds as they learn more about the effect on their communities.
A March poll by the Center for the Study of Local Issues at Anne Arundel Community College found that 63 percent of 419 county residents responding to the poll supported slot machine gambling. That number, with a margin of error of 5 percent, is consistent with statewide surveys on the issue.
Groups like the Laurel Clergy Association are trying to turn those numbers around. “Slots will prey on the people we?re trying to serve,” said the Rev. Chris Owens of First United Methodist Church.
Slots revenues are slated to go into an education trust fund. Supporters include the teachers union, other labor groups and major business organizations in the state.
