Youth gambling ban? Lawmakers mull raising threshold to 21
DAVID AMMONS ,AP Political Writer, source http://ap.org/
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Problem gambling activists, concerned about teen gambling and a television-promoted poker craze, are pushing legislation to lift the gambling age from 18 to 21, to match the legal drinking age.
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, and Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Edmonds, introduced legislation in both houses on Friday.
The measure is championed by Second Chance Washington, an advocacy group that secured financing last year for treatment and prevention of problem gambling.
“This is a sensible step that brings Washington’s gambling age in line with the drinking age, and the laws of most other states,” said Jennifer McCausland, the group’s director.
“Nobody wants to go to the bank with profits earned turning teens into gambling addicts, and that is why the bill has earned such broad bipartisan support in both houses,” she said.
The legislation would raise the gambling age on all forms of legalized gambling, including racetracks, cardrooms and mini-casinos, the state Lottery, church bingo, punchboards and pulltabs, and Reno nights by charitable groups and high schools.
Second Chance spokesman David Goldstein said most tribal casinos and many cardrooms already have a minimum wage requirement of 21. Tribal compacts prohibit minors in casinos that serve alcohol.
Goldstein said the tribes and most cardroom operators aren’t expected to oppose the legislation. Racetracks, the state-run lottery and other forces probably will line up against the bills because they don’t want to lose revenue, he said.
Gambling is the nation’s fastest-growing teen addiction, in part caused by the poker craze that is promoted on television by celebrity players and big jackpot matches, Goldstein said in an interview.
The group cited a 1999 study that showed 70 percent of teens reported gambling, with an estimated 6 percent possibly addicted.
“Gambling can be just as addictive as drugs and alcohol,” McCausland said in a statement. “Teens and their parents need to know that they’re not just gambling with money, they’re gambling with their lives.”
Kohl-Welles said Internet gambling and poker have become the rage and that some youth get hooked, literally. She recalled seeing stores promoting poker sets as a family gift at Christmas.
“The apparent increase in gambling among youth is staggering,” she said. “All of the West Coast states and Idaho and Nevada have set the age at 21 and only two of our Indian casinos allow people under age 21 to gamble.”
Roberts said new brain research that shows some adolescents lack the development they need to comprehend the link between action and consequences, and get into addictive behavior.
“Since there is a potential for a (gambling) problem, just as we treat alcohol, let’s delay that experience to allow three more years of maturity that hopefully will bring them greater judgment and more discipline,” she said in an interview.
The Senate bill will be heard by Kohl-Welles’ Labor and Commerce Committee on Jan. 26. Marty Brown, Gov. Christine Gregoire’s legislative director, said the administration has no position on the legislation yet. The lottery and legislative staff are developing an estimate of the revenue loss if the bill passes.
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The bills are Senate Bill 6523 and House Bill 2872.