Please call and ask your Louisiana lawmaker to vote "no" on S.B. 316 which purports simply to "move the casinos from water to land," but actually massively expands the size of the gambling facilities. Phone numbers are provided below. Louisiana Baptists have declared casino gambling "a system of exploitation" that preys upon the most vulnerable of our citizens by promoting "highly addictive behaviors." Indeed, research shows that 40 to 60 percent of casino revenues come from problem gamblers and increasingly from the ranks of the vulnerable elderly: HALF of casino visitors are over age 50, and, casinos are marketing more and more to those over 70 -- even to those who are 80 years old and more. Moreover, the Picard Center of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette conducted research for the Louisiana Department of Health and confirmed that gambling addiction is an overwhelming and growing problem in our state and that gambling is a growing presence among our vulnerable children: -- Louisiana has the 4th highest incidence of problem gambling in the country -- More than 179,000 problem gamblers and 96,000 pathological gamblers are in the state. -- 40.6 % of 6th graders, 44.1 % of 8th graders, 40.8 % of … [Read more...]