The debate over legalizing slot machines in Maryland could center on whether the one-armed bandits bring crime and social ills or economic windfalls and entertainment.
“There are legitimate reasons for stigmatizing slot machines,” said Earl Grinols, an economics professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and author on gambling issues.
“Too much revenues go to the owners, the money comes from the wrong people in problematic gamblers and it is the faster and truer way for social problems to occur.”
Grinols points to a study he co-wrote that showed counties with casinos and racinos, which are slots at racetracks, saw increases in major crimes between 1977 and 1996, and casino-related crimes accounted for between 5 percent and 30 percent of the local crime problem.
Other cities, such as Bangor, Maine, Richmond City, Calif., and Harrisburg, Pa., have reported crime increases because of slot machines being introduced to local casinos, though the claims come from anti-gambling groups, according to media reports.
But not all slots towns have such problems.
“We have not seen an increase in crime,” said Peggy Smith, mayor of Charles Town, which neighbors Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia.
“They are the largest employer in Jefferson County. It has been a very favorable relationship.”
According to a 2007 review of casino and racino gambling, the lobbyist group American Gambling Association reported that 52 percent of survey respondents find gambling acceptable. The survey also shows favorable majorities supporting gambling?s effect on the local economy.
Officials hope a referendum will give lawmakers better guidance on this deeply divisive issue.
“The government needs to make [a] policy decision on gambling that is good for the state,” said Anne Arundel Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-District 4.
“And in the end, the will of the people will carry the day.”
