Congratulations!

From Tom Larkin:

As most of you know;

The Democratic Party passed a Resolution today in Springfield opposing slots and predatory gambling in Massachusetts. It was a very close vote.

I want to especially thank the Senate District Leaders and others who helped organize this effort. They are too many to mention, but Leo Maley, Fred Berman, Bob Massie and Michael Falcone of Casino Free Mass were indispensable to the overall effort and Senator Susan Tucker's involvement helped close the deal with many delegates.

We need to move on now and build on this momentum. We were the underdog going into the Convention. We raised consciousness and surprised alot of people.

The real potential of our effort in Springfield will be seen in the follow through.

Our goal going in, was to organize a series of "Forums on the Costs and Benefits of Expanded Legalized Gambling" in each Senate District, in the months to come.

This effort will include many additional non-partisan groups, the Public Policy Committee of the DSC as well as those who support the expansion of legalized gambling. This issue cries out for an honest debate. Our coalition is sure to become stronger with each "Forum."

The Convention victory on our Resolution, opens the door to a REAL debate on this issue.

More on this later. Now is a time to celebrate the broadening of our coalition.

Tom Larkin

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The text of the resolution may be found at Democrats resolve to oppose slots
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Of Gambling Addiction:
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The Gambling industry tries to simplify it by claiming that Pathological Gamblers are only "1%" of the US population.
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When projections are done on "active gamblers", those who actually gamble, the projections rise significantly;

-Pathological gamblers about 4%
-Problem gamblers about 9%
-At Risk gamblers about 18%

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The National Gambling Impact Study Commission-1999, demonstrated that the numbers of pathological and problem gamblers DOUBLE, within a 50 mile radius of new gambling sites.
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So the industry CREATES, actually increases the numbers. Problem and at risk gamblers are pathological gamblers "in waiting".

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Friend and fellow blogger Carl, posted this article from Las Vegas Sun --

Nevada, gambling capital of America, has also long been the country’s problem gambling capital.
The only significant statewide study on the topic, in 2002, showed that about

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6.4 percent of the state’s adults

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were either problem or pathological gamblers — almost one in 15 Nevadans. And Gamblers Anonymous has more active chapters in the Las Vegas Valley than in any other metropolitan area in the world.

In the coming days, more will be added, but it's clear that Predatory Gambling is no longer a sure bet in the Commonwealth.

An open and public debate is needed on this issue.

We simply can't afford to subsidize or tolerate the cost of addiction to enrich the few.