Columnist Jeff German: New study claims problem gambling not the chief cause of suicides in LV

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1998 | 11:35 a.m.

Gaming's detractors won't want to hear this.

A new study in the current issue of the Gaming Law Review concludes that gambling addictions play a small role in the high suicide rate among visitors to Las Vegas.

Christian Marfels, a Canadian economics professor, finds in the study that problem gambling is the direct cause in only 6 percent of the visitor suicide cases here between 1990 and 1997.

Other factors, such as depression, health problems, alcohol and drug abuse and the breakup of personal relationships play a far greater role in local suicides, Marfels says.

His findings are important to the industry because it shoots down the theory often advanced by the industry's critics that gambling is the chief reason why the suicide rate here is the highest in the nation.

"Based on the evidence in the Clark County suicide files," Marfels writes, "it appears that the frequent allegations of a connection between Las Vegas visitor suicides and gambling are not substantiated by fact."

The city's suicide rate attracted the attention of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission during its hearing here last month.

The Gaming Law Review includes friends and critics of the gaming industry.

As predicted here earlier, Republican leaders are wasting little time trying to persuade Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., to run for the Senate in 2000.

The news reached Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, on Monday.

Many, however, doubt that Ensign will want to take on Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev. Ensign lost to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., this year by only 428 votes after a grueling race and a recount.

Bryan, who has a good relationship with Ensign, is just as tenacious a campaigner as Reid.

Others mentioned by Roll Call Monday as possible Senate hopefuls in 2000 are Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev, and Secretary of State Dean Heller, who stood up to Ensign during the recount.

Gibbons aides have said their man is leaning toward running for re-election in 2000. But if he does run for the Senate, the nomination would seem to be his for the taking. Ensign isn't likely to run in a primary against his Republican colleague the past two years.

On the House side, state Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, has been mentioned as a possible opponent of Rep.-elect Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., in 2000. Berkley's district has 39,000 more Democrats than Republicans.

Berkley, who already seems to be making a name for herself in Washington, will be extremely tough to beat after she has one term under her belt.

She's holding her first town hall meeting Thursday night at UNLV's Moyer Student Union to hear from her constituents before being sworn into office next month.

Roll Call, meanwhile, let one Nevada Republican leader take a cheap shot at Berkley's GOP opponent this year, former District Judge Don Chairez.

"We had the world's worst candidate," the Republican big shot was quoted as saying. "He didn't do what he was supposed to do. He sat in his office and ignored the world, thinking the state party and the National Republican Congressional Committee would do everything for him."

Chairez gave up a judicial career to bail out the Republicans this year when no one else of any stature would run against Berkley. He deserves better treatment from his pals in the GOP.

An anonymous state lawmaker has submitted a bill draft that will take the infamous "paycheck protection" battle to the 1999 Nevada Legislature.

That's the word from Chuck Muth, chairman of the Nevada Republican Liberty Caucus, a paycheck protection advocate.

Earlier this year, you'll recall, Republicans were forced to abort their ballot initiative that aimed to ban unions from deducting dues for political purposes without permission from their members.

With the Democrats firmly in control of the Assembly, the paycheck protection bill likely will meet the same fate.