Hawaii lucky to be free from gambling

THE ISSUE A new study has concluded that gambling shares chemical reactions similar to cocaine in addiction by some people.

Hawaii has been fortunate in fighting off attempts to legalize commercial gambling. Betting has been known to exacerbate poverty and other social problems, and a new study supports evidence that it can be addictive.

State legislators rejected a proposal seven years ago supported by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano to allow the opening of a casino in Ko Olina. A bill introduced last year to allow casino gambling to help fund rapid transit was deservedly ignored.

A study at the University of Alabama has found that gambling triggers a chemical reaction similar to cocaine, according to high-tech imaging that looks inside the brain. Don Ross, a philosophy and economics professor and a pioneer in neuroeconomics, says it can produce a strong drive to keep betting.

Ross points to an incident in South Africa in which three men armed with AK-47s robbed a casino, ordering customers to lie on the floor to be relieved of their winnings. "The pathological gamblers, while lying on the floor, were reaching up and playing slot machines," he told the Birmingham News.

Hard-core gamblers comprise 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent of the population, he said. However, the American Psychiatric Association estimates that pathological gamblers range from 0.5 percent to 3.4 percent in adults, with higher rates among adolescents and college students. A casino within 10 miles of home nearly doubles the odds of being a pathological gambler.

Star-Bulletin polls in the 1990s indicated that a majority of Hawaii residents opposed legalizing gambling in the state. A 2001 poll showed that 40 percent of respondents oppose any legalized gambling, while 46 percent would favor it under some circumstances. By any measure, the problems far outweigh the benefits.