Fahrenkopf Says Social Ills of Casino Gambling an Urban Myth

The CEO of the American Gaming Association says opponents who claim casino gambling is a societal scourge causing crime and other ills are disproven by actual results.

The president of the American Gaming Association wrote a letter responding to a Pennsylvania editorial denouncing casino expansion for the crime and social costs it would bring. Frank Fahrenkopf said arguments that casino gambling causes hefty social ills were "baseless claims."

Fahrenkopf was replying to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer opposing any increase in gambling in the state. The editorial said that revenue gains due to expanded gaming would be more than offset by robberies, theft, prostitution, compulsive gambling, and other undesired results.

But Fahrenkopf used facts to dispute the commonly circulated theories, which have not been borne out by actual events. The AGA head says that, in the five years of legal casino gambling in Pennsylvania, there has been no crime increase in casino areas.

Further, he states that there are no figures showing any spike in gambling disorders. He notes that  "casinos have not compounded social problems in gaming communities."

Fahrenkopf's assertions are supported by evidence across the US. Community leaders and police authorities in casino regions like Hallandale, Florida, Bossier City, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania's own Mount Airy have repeatedly shown statistics and offered proof that the worries of social damage are unfounded.

Those reports have also backed Fahrenkopf's point that casinos do have a strong positive impact. Jobs have been created, cities beautified, budgets balanced, and quality of life improved, by the introduction of casinos.

"We hope that, as the state legislature continues to consider expanded gambling, it favors reality over rhetoric and admits that the fears about gambling simply have not been realized," concludes Fahrenkopf's public letter.