All that glitters is gold, according to the sparkling sales pitches delivered by the parade of gambling lobbyists at the Capitol on August 25th. But for the state House Study Committee on “gaming” to make informed decisions about proposed gambling expansion in Georgia, members should also hear in-depth presentations from a range of gambling opponents. They spent this day hearing from gambling promoters. Perhaps a future meeting will give members the opportunity to spend an entire day learning why so many Georgians do not want gambling expansion.
As Moms Against Gambling noted on X, from 9:00 am – 3:15 pm, there were 17 presentations scheduled, four speakers from Georgia and just one voicing opposition to gambling expansion.
Frontline Policy Council’s Joseph D’Angelo’s powerful statement on gambling harms, false promises and the “slippery slope,” was the only sobering interlude that shed any light on the downside of state-sanctioned gambling. Not so glittery.
Powerful and persuasive gambling lobbyists and Las Vegas casino executives offered up misleading reasons for Georgia to get into the gambling business with them. One, quoting biased data from gambling insiders, denied that legalization increases addiction. And casino advocates never mentioned the sex trafficking that thrives in the environment they provide.
One of the presenters flippantly placed an illegal bet on his phone, as part of his presentation. (He was not charged for his law breaking.) He failed to mention that legalizing gambling in 39 states has not deterred the offshore betting boogey-men that they warn about. He didn’t apologize for the incessant legal gambling ads normalizing gambling for our kids. He didn’t mention the sophisticated AI-targeted marketing that the legal sports betting operators employ to keep gamblers gambling until they become addicts. He probably didn’t know that children as young as eleven have been treated for gambling addiction. Or that many bereaved families don’t find out about their loved ones’ sports betting addiction until it’s too late to help them.
The people of Georgia deserve to hear the whole truth. The committee making life-altering decisions about gambling on our behalf need to hear more than the sales pitches of casino execs and sports betting profiteers who stand to make millions off the misery of our Georgia neighbors, yet take no responsibility for the carnage left in their wake.
The only speaker who didn’t have financial motivation for his testimony was D’Angelo. He told of his personal experience working with couples who have been devastated emotionally and ruined financially by gambling addiction.
D’Angelo warned of increased bankruptcies, child neglect, domestic violence, crime and suicide – the highest rate for any addiction, as 1 in 5 addicted gamblers attempts suicide. He spoke of the skyrocketing number of calls to gambling help lines in states that legalized sports betting. He dispelled the myth that gambling is a boon to state economies. And he pointed out that nothing learned in free pre-K can make up for the devastation of a childhood “destabilized by gambling addiction.”
Multi-billion-dollar casinos are lovely. But they are also an environment where the sex trafficking underground can hide and thrive. They attract crime and cannibalize local businesses.
Sports betting can be fun. But it can also corrupt the integrity of the sports we love, lead to player harassment, and devastating addiction.
The real impact of gambling is not glamorous. It is the opposite. It is harmful. But you’d never have known it, but for 15 minutes right after lunch when the lone gambling opponent invited to present at this meeting told the inconvenient truth.
Georgia needs more truth. We won’t be able to put this genie back in the bottle.
Jeanne Seaver is the founder and President of Moms Against Gambling. For more information visit MomsAgainstGambling.com, and follow Moms Against Gambling on Facebook and on X @NoGamblingInGA
