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Florida Slot Amendment Passed

MAITLAND, Florida – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Constitutional Amendment 4 for the State of Florida, which allows Broward and Miami-Dade counties to hold a future referendum on whether or not slot machines can be placed at racetracks and Jai Alai frontons, was passed by voters in the Nov. 2, 2004 election. According to the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG), the expansion of slot machine gambling must be accompanied by additional education and treatment for what will likely be an increase in compulsive gamblers and raises several troubling issues that need to be addressed:

* Slot machines were the number one form of gambling identified by callers who contacted FCCG's 888-ADMIT-IT 24-hour Problem Gambling HelpLine from

July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004.

* Even before the amendment was proposed, there was a dire need for state- funded treatment and education regarding problem and compulsive gambling. More than 250,000 Floridians could benefit from such treatment right now. The addition of slot machines will only exacerbate an already existing problem.

* State and local governments have a responsibility to confront the potentially high social and economic costs of compulsive gambling. Problem and pathological gamblers in the United States cost society approximately $5 billion per year and an extra $40 billion in lifetime costs for productivity reductions, social services and creditor losses. In addition, the cost of litigation and imprisonment for legal cases involving compulsive gamblers is placed on the shoulders of taxpayers. It is therefore disturbing that the referendum language stated that the cost to the public of allowing additional gambling is unknown.

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