Officials warned of problem gambling perils

Michael Mello

Thursday, May 13, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- John Cipolla gambled from the time he was a teenager, but said it wasn't until he starting going to casinos that his addiction, and life, spun out of control.

"I am the dark side of gambling," said the former Providence official, who spent two years in prison for stealing from a city agency.

Cipolla, the former deputy director of the Mayor's Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, was sentenced in 2002 to three years in prison for stealing more than $240,000.

He told the House Finance Committee on Wednesday that a gambling addiction drove him to steal the money.

Cipolla now works for a Pawtucket-based center that works with people suffering from addictions. He told the House panel any casino proposal must include money to pay for prevention and treatment programs for compulsive gamblers.

"Gambling took over my life to the point I was obviously out of control," he said. "What you won't hear here today are the cries of my family ... the day I was led away from a courtroom in shackles."

"I am begging someone to step to the forefront and start discussing how we mandate prevention and treatment programs," he said.

The House panel took testimony on a host of gambling bills that include asking voters whether they support having a casino in West Warwick.

Rep. Tim Williamson, D-West Warwick, has introduced several bills that would allow voters to decide on the casino question.

One proposal specifies the Narragansett Indians' West Warwick proposal, which calls for residents to vote in a referendum in November. Other bills name only the town as the location for a casino without specifying the developer.

Opponents have offered bills that include preventing the tribe and its Las Vegas-based partner, Harrah's Entertainment Inc., from building on their chosen site. Another bill, introduced on behalf of Gov. Don Carcieri, would require any casino to make the same percentage tax payments to the state as do Lincoln Park and Newport Grand, which have video-lottery gaming.

Other bills deal with how casinos should be regulated.

One offered by Attorney General Patrick Lynch calls for a five-member commission within the executive branch that would license casino gaming and establishes an attorney general's division of gaming enforcement.

Others would give broad power to the state lottery commission to oversee casino gambling, including licensing.

Lynch said the bill introduced on his behalf borrowed from how other states regulate casino gambling.

The lottery commission would still oversee the lottery, while the commission he proposes would regulate casinos and other gaming, including video slots.

"The (gambling) landscape has changed so dramatically ... we need a body to respond to it. I don't think we have the right one to do it" now, Lynch said.

Another bill would ensure that any casino license issued by the state be done through competitive bidding.

"We are just beginning to understand the incredible value placed on these kind of activities," said Rep. Paul Crowley, D-Newport, who sits on the finance panel and co-sponsored the bill.