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Concerns over Seniors Gambling may be Overblown

"They couldn't bar the doors, so they tried to reap some of the considerable gaming taxes flowing to Detroit. They formed the Detroit Seniors and Casinos task force and asked Mayor Dennis Archer last year to funnel some of the money to treat older compulsive gamblers and to enrich recreational and nutritional programs at senior centers.

"… One casino official told the group it would provide grants to senior groups if they applied. None did. The task force lost momentum and was eventually spun off to a senior advocacy group that has a bigger agenda.

"And now it seems the advocates' worries may have been exaggerated.

"Statewide and national surveys of gambling habits show that seniors are the least likely to suffer financial consequences of gambling. Logs from recent calls made to the state's gambling hot line also suggest that people older than 65 are less vulnerable to the destructive potential of gambling than younger people.

"For many of them, casinos are simply a diversion.

"…A statewide gambling help line established by Neighborhood Services Organization in Detroit hasn't exactly been inundated with calls from seniors. Less than 6 percent of the 2,186 calls received in March were from people whom a screening test established to be compulsive gamblers. Of those, two were between 65 and 74. None was older. The majority of the callers were between 40 and 49, according to Jim McBryde of the Michigan Department of Community Health.

"A 1999 statewide survey of gamblers showed that fewer than 1 percent of Michiganders older than 65 could be defined as problem or pathological gamblers.

"…Karen Schrock of Adult Well-Being Services in Detroit, which provides social services to older adults, said the state survey and another one funded by United Way may have undermeasured the impact of gambling on seniors. Some of the questions were about the effect of gambling on work and spouses -- two factors that may be missing from seniors' lives…"

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