Poll: Majority of public supports legal gambling

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Legal gambling in America enjoys broad public acceptance, a new poll shows, reflecting the steadily increasing role that lotteries, casinos and other games of chance have come to play in the nation's culture.

Nearly two-thirds of American adults approve of legal gambling, a Gallup poll said Wednesday. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they approve of state lotteries, while 67 percent said that opening a casino helps a community's economy. Many of those who approve of gambling reasoned that people should have the right to choose what to do with their money and how to enjoy their free time. But the poll didn't represent an unqualified endorsement of gambling, which has grown substantially in the past two decades. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia now run lotteries; commercial casinos operate in 10 states, and Indian tribes have opened casinos in at least 22 states. Almost half of those polled favored maintaining the current level of legal gambling, while 22 percent favored expansion, 16 percent wanted to roll it back and 13 percent supported a gambling ban. "There is a clear distinction in Americans' minds about the economic benefits of casinos and the social impact on the communities in which they operate," Gallup reported. Legalized gambling "is creating a compulsive gambling problem in this country," said 55 percent of the adults surveyed, and 68 percent said they believe sports betting leads to cheating or fixing games. The gambling industry may face a popularity problem in the future, as the teenagers who were polled, more than the adults, saw a dark side to gambling. Only 52 percent of teenagers polled said they approve of legal gambling, compared with two-thirds of the adults. Asked to assess the statement that gambling harms respect for the value of hard work, 58 percent of the teens agreed strongly or somewhat, compared with 43 percent of adults. Gallup's telephone poll of 1,523 adults and 501 teenagers from April 30 to May 23 carries an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points for adults, 5 percentage points for teenagers. Jack Ludwig, vice president at Gallup, cautioned that teenagers have a more narrow definition of "gambling" than do adults, a majority of whom included stock market trading and office pools under the term. Still, he said, "Teens tend to be a little more conservative than adults, a little more skeptical toward gambling." Gallup timed the poll to precede a lengthy report on gambling in America. After two years of work, the nine-member National Gambling Impact Study Commission will release its report Friday. Already, advocates on both sides of the gambling debate are using the commission's report to bolster their case. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said the report will show that gambling "is an addictive product that hurts people, causes pain and suffering and preys upon the young, the poor and the elderly." Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming Association, noted that the report says gambling has become "an economic mainstay in many communities and plays an increasingly prominent role in state and even regional economies."

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