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The message was delivered by state (MD) Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. and two university professors who study gambling and its impact nationally. In his remarks to the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, Curran pointed to a research study that shows the economic costs of gambling far outweigh the benefits.

The report by Earl Grinols, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, found that casino-style gambling costs a state's economy $219 per adult annually, Curran said. That compares to $46 per adult in benefits -- including new jobs, tax revenue, profits back to the gambling operator and other economic activity.

The Baltimore Sun / by Gred Garland / 9.28.03 / www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.gambling28sep28,0,5787946.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Another speaker at the conference, William N. Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said his research suggests that social costs of slots in Maryland would range from $571 million to $674 million a year.

The estimates are based on the population size and what it costs society for each new problem gambler and pathological gambler, he said. The costs include the value of missed work, thefts, bankruptcy filings, court and prison costs, and additional social welfare expenses, Thompson said.

WBALCHANNEL.COM / 9.29.03 / www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2517279/detail.html

Curran (Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.) spoke during the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling‚ at it's annual conference, which was held near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. During his speech, Curran stated that law-enforcement costs increase an average of 8% in communities where gambling is legal.

thoroughbredtimes.com /9.28.03 / www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=38254&subsec=1