The Growth of Gambling: Will the Granite State Be Next?

Why would we prop up the failing run down tracks with slot machines, instead of competing at a higher level by building a State owned destination Casino/Resort/Conference center in the Berlin / Gorham area which is gaurenteed to actually bring in economic growth from outside the state, keep the profits from leaving the state, and spur development, instead of slots which just pray on the local poor and send the profits out of State

Paul in Bartlett

Regarding Senator D'Allesandro's plan to put machines at the racetracks: We need look back only a few years to see the management at the dog track in Belmont indicted for money laundering and running an oxycontin ring out of the track. Those activities took place under the nose of the NH Pari_Mutuel Commission and only came to an end when the feds busted them. There has been little change at the Pari-Mutuel Commission since then. Why would we give them a huge explosion of new gambling to mis-manage?

A very close family member has worked for the Saratoga race track for over 15 years. He has worked in the back office and seen the corruption and the greed that causes the employees to steal from the race track tills in order to gamble on the tracks. And these are the people that were screened to work at the track. How many more of these types of people are customers?
It was in the papers for many years. With the corruption the state took over the race track and now leases it to "private investors" for an amazing profit to the state and the owners. The race track no longer cares about breeding as Mr D'Allesandro implies. Proof of this is evident in that the Saratoga track has even changed its dress code, against all track enthusiasts protest, with no doubt the intention to take money from a larger demographic in order to allow the lower income individuals that also want to gamble. It is about the money. It is about the busniess not the breading, Lou D'Allesandro.
A visit to the track back a few months ago I recognized thousands of people that, to stereotype, did not look financially fit enough to have extra income to spend on such things as gambling. It’s obvious the addicts are in many more forms than the 2-3%. As is with any addiction the statistic is based on worse case. There are many more people with functional addictions that gamble money to these casino's or tracks in a semi-responsible way. Enough so that the dollars they spend hurt the economy of these households and the surrounding area.
PS: Every employee I saw that had a broom did not speak English very well at all. I made a point to ask most that I saw where the bathroom was located. They Just muttered "Dis way" and pointed.

Gary from Nashua

For over a decade I drove a wholesale beverage truck in Connecticut and was in a unique position to view gambling through the lottery, Powerball and scratch-off tickets. In one stretch of my delivery area, twice a week and every week, I would see the same person in several locations. She was in her late 50's, well dressed and apparently quite well off. Some store owners and myself started keep a rough account of what she spent on scratch-off's and the lottery. We came up with a conservative estimate of $2,500 a day. This went on for years and may still be for all I know.
On the other side of the spectrum were the countless examples of lottery sales I witnessed on days that welfare checks were out. I remember asking one store owner how much one woman spent after she left by taxi with her four young kids. "$200 he replied." "Nice use of our tax dollars" I added. He agreed.
The first woman represents to me an addict who can afford her disease from here to Macao. The second spends our tax dollars on what is available. Increasing availability in any form will only add to addiction. And even one new addict is too high a price.