Mark Bennett: 'Concerning' numbers in Indiana gambling survey; communities should prepare

Jun. 22—Even before the new Terre Haute Casino Resort opens next March, at least 5,591 Wabash Valley residents likely have a gambling problem.

Once that new facility opens, the number will probably grow.

That's not to say Churchill Downs' $260-million casino, its 500 staff jobs and related construction jobs, its estimated $10 million in annual tax revenue to the city, county, school district and a nonprofit foundation, and its $190 million yearly economic impact won't provide benefits for the community. But along with all of the upsides, the Terre Haute area will need to be upfront and proactive in helping its residents with gambling problems.

A new biannual survey by Prevention Insights, a center within the Indiana University School of Public Health in Bloomington, illuminates the pervasive nature of gambling and related addictions in this era. IU released the survey on Tuesday.

The survey showed that 89% of Hoosier adults took part in some variety of gambling in the past year, a tick above the national rate of 88%. Three percent of Hoosier adults reported having a gambling problem.

Sadly, just 0.6% of those problem gamblers sought treatment. And only 38% of all residents responding to the survey realized the existence of the Indiana Problem Gambling Hotline, the toll-free 1-800-994-8448 number that connects callers with Indiana-based addiction treatment providers and resources.

Once Terre Haute becomes the 13th Indiana city with a casino, the rate of local residents aware of that helpline and other addiction assistance needs to be much higher than 38%. Thousands of people will need such help. Based on the Prevention Insights survey's statewide numbers, 3% of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area population likely have a gambling problem. That calculates to 5,561 residents.

Actually, the impact could affect even more people.

"It really is a 50-mile radius that we see increased risks, increased behaviors, maybe more bankruptcies or some increased reporting of crime," Mary Lay, operations director of Prevention Insights and program manager of IU's Indiana Problem Gambling Awareness Program, said by telephone Thursday.

The Terre Haute metro area includes Vigo, Clay, Vermillion and Sullivan counties. A 50-mile radius around Terre Haute goes beyond those counties.

It should be noted the growth of online gambling is altering the 50-mile radius research, Lay emphasized.

"But Terre Haute should be aware that something new is coming into their community and be aware, if things start to change, what they can do to mitigate some of those issues," Lay said. "Talking about it in schools, talking about it in churches, talking about it in community groups, and really focusing on what has changed in the community in terms of concerns and how they address those issues [helps]."

Indeed, the results of this year's IU survey — particularly the reality that one-third of Hoosiers and a growing number of young adults are gambling — are "concerning," Lay said.

Two of every three Hoosiers play lotteries. Fifty-five percent of Indiana adults said they visited a casino in the past year. The age group that gambled in multiple formats most often ranged from 35- to 54-year-olds; they participated in online sports betting, video-based table games at a casino and lottery ticket vending machines.

The Indiana Legislature legalized sports betting in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

"Gambling keeps expanding in Indiana, in terms of accessibility," Lay said. "The first time we did this survey, sports gaming had just started in Indiana, and we were in the middle of COVID, and people were home. More and more opportunities are available for people to do sports gaming or for people to participate in other activities."

The risk of developing a gambling disorder has doubled nationally since 2018, a National Council on Problem Gambling survey showed. It was 2018 when the opportunity to legally bet on sporting events opened after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1992 law that banned gambling on sports in most states.

In the Prevention Insights survey, younger adults reported more participation in any sports gaming and online/video gambling activities than older adults.

"It was eye-catching in that the younger that people start engaging in any kind of high-risk behavior, whether it be drinking or smoking or gambling, the greater the chances that they can develop problems on down the line," Lay said. "That early exposure kind of introduces you to the behavior that if you're already at-risk, it just increases your chances of developing issues."

The explosion of spending life online through cellphones, and access to sports gaming on those phones, increases that chance. People spend 4.8 hours per day on mobile phones now, according to a BBC report. That change adds a new dynamic to anticipating the future impact of gambling on the younger age groups.

"They have grown up with a phone in their hand," Lay said. "So, it's going to be hard to predict what's going to happen in five, 10 years from now. Will they stay with an electronic version of it, or will they move to more traditional lotteries or land-based casinos? We don't know. Every generation kind of has its favorite way of doing different things, and so only time will tell what we know about this group."

Once gambling problems develop for young and older people, those issues can manifest in ways similar to people with alcohol or drug addictions. With 30 years in the field of substance-abuse care and 15 dealing with gambling issues, Lay understands well the devastating cases.

"Some of them are very heartbreaking that the [addiction-care] providers talk about," Lay said. "People lose their jobs. They may take second and third mortgages out on their home. Their families may not be aware of the level of the problems they've started to have, and they may have spent all of their savings and their college funds, and sometimes families don't find out until much later that this has been going on."

Americans spend more on gambling than amusement parks, movies, concerts and similar activities, Lay explained. Casino spending per Hoosier adult averaged $475 in 2021, according to the American Gaming Association.

"So it is a pretty big business in the United States," Lay said. "Indiana seems to always follow the national trend, so it's always a big business here in Indiana."

Hoosier communities that have successfully dealt with problem gambling don't hide its existence. They also point people toward resources, such as addiction care providers. Terre Haute has such a facility in Hamilton Center, Lay said.

Prepared communities "promote the opportunities for help in their area, and they make sure people are aware of those things and that their community pays attention to issues when they arise and [do] not just dismiss it as, 'People that do that just have a weakness with their money,'" Lay said. "The community realizes it can be an addiction and that it can be a problem and it can be a problem that can be solved."

Terre Haute can be such a community.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.