"The gambling industry brings with it built-in negative impacts wherever it exists — from crime, traffic and zoning issues to the 3 percent to 4 percent of the population that becomes problem or pathological gamblers. Yet for the nearly 20 years that the state has had Indian casinos, it has raked in billions of dollars while mostly ignoring the unpleasant details.

That's what the newly released study on the impact of gambling in Connecticut makes clear. This report should be required reading by every state official. Conducted by Spectrum Gaming Group, a New Jersey research company, the study is based on more than 150 interviews that were directed by Michael Diamond, a company vice president and former investigative journalist for the Atlantic City Press. So the report reads like a good investigative series, and takes a big-picture view.

Casinos have had positive impacts, too, adding tens of thousands of jobs to our economy. But in other ways, the picture is far from pretty.

Among the study's conclusions:

•Connecticut's reliance on gambling revenue for the state budget is double the national average and among the highest of any state in the country.

•Embezzlement arrests in the state have risen nearly 400 percent since Foxwoods Resort Casino first opened in 1991 — dramatically higher than has occurred in other states with gambling.

•The towns around the casinos have suffered the most negative impact, with several seeing their rates of driving while under the influence double and even triple, causing injuries and fatalities."

Get the Story:
Maura Casey: Connecticut Is Clueless About Gambling (The Hartford Courant 7/5)