Casinos threatened with addiction suits

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 11:36 a.m.

The head of Common Cause told a problem gambling conference last month that the gambling business will be the next target for lawyers seeking compensation for addicts, the Hartford Courant reported.

As gambling expands across the country, "somebody is going to sue somebody," Common Cause president and former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger told participants at the New England Conference on Problem Gambling.

Harshbarger was one of the first state attorneys general to sue the tobacco industry.

Harshbarger told a gathering of industry executives, gambling critics and researchers that "there is a dramatic public health cost, there is a dramatic social cost" to gambling.

Executives from the Mohegan Sun casino and the Connecticut Lottery Corp. said they were working hard to recognize customers who might have a problem. Lottery Vice President Barbara Porto said it is "just plain good business that we need to try to prevent problem gambling."

Mohegan Sun President William Velardo said that "historically, the gambling industry has been reluctant to deal with the problem gambling issue. That has changed dramatically," the Courant reported.

Casinos don't want people who can't control their gambling, said Dean W. Hestermann, director of public affairs for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas. "We readily acknowledge that there are a small number of people that don't use our product as intended," he said, the Courant reported.

Gambling industry foe the Rev. Tom Grey said in April that a lawsuit over gambling addictions against the casino industry is "a sure thing."

"Sooner or later, the (slot) machines are going to be labeled as the addictive delivery system," Grey said in an interview with In Business Las Vegas, a sister newspaper to the Las Vegas Sun.

Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, said states haven't already sued the industry because state governments are themselves addicted to gambling revenue.

"We believe states should bring lawsuits against gambling entities, the same way they did against the tobacco industry," Grey said. "Except there's no incentive to do it because they're partners (with the industry). So it's going to take longer. But it's going to happen. If you're a betting person, bet that the lawsuits are coming."

Grey said that besides states, other potential plaintiffs in lawsuits are casino slot club members, who receive promotions encouraging them to gamble more than regular casino customers.