BE OUR GUEST: RIVERBOAT GAMBLING NOTHING MORE THAN SNARE, DELUSION

John Blue is a retired editor of the Southeast Missourian newspaper, and remains active in civic affairs.

Riverboat gambling, no matter in what light its promoters and proponents choose to cast it, is nothing but a snare and a delusion.

It snares the unwary, it preys on those least able to afford it, it deludes the ones it proposes to help.

It makes a mockery of the good deeds performed by those who have gone before us in the building of Cape Girardeau. We have been given a most remarkable city by our forebears.

Do we now, by unleashing an evil that has beset men and women and children over the centuries, undo all our past leaders have done for us?

Yes, this a moral issue, unpopular as that word may be in these times. In today's materialistic society (preoccupation with money and possessions and entertainment to the exclusion of spiritual or intellectual values) morality seems not to be foremost in the public mind.

Those who believe the pie in the sky promises--the Pied Piper sketch of riverboat gambling facilities furnished by Las Vegas promoters carried recently in The Missourian, the siren song of a lasting business boom, the movie glitter of casinos, the lure of tax money to city and county--are not facing reality.

The obstacles to be overcome in acquiring land, in meeting Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard regulations, in satisfying city codes, in the engineering problems of a flooding and falling Mississippi River, the overcross of the flood wall, are only a few of the issues posed by construction of the facilities shown in the drawing. The proposal looks good on paper, but in reality?

Business might boom at the outset. Novelty attracts customers, but history shows it does not always last. It has not in Atlantic City. It has not in Colorado. It has not in Iowa and in other places. We have one river boat gambling casino not far away. There will be others. Competition will grow, patronage will drop off, and the boat will sail on.

Tax money? Will it outweigh the extra cost of police officers necessary to care for personal conflicts, some measure of increased crime, traffic control, parking facilities and shuttle buses (where is there parking on Main Street to accommodate the thousands of people predicted?) and a myriad of other problems that arise wherever gambling exists? Taxes and assessments surely will increase. What will gambling do for those who are, and will be, addicted to its use? Time Magazine (Feb. 25, 1991) reports that gambling researchers estimate there were then 8 million compulsive gamblers in America.

Of that number, 1 million are teenagers. Time reports that gambling counselors say an average of 76 percent of their case loads involve teenagers. It adds that studies show teenage students are 2 times more likely to become compulsive gamblers as adults. Yes, there are age limits, but despite security checks, thousands of minors do pass through.

What does this mean to Cape Girardeau? Listen up, people.

How many parents, planning to send their sons and daughters to college, will think again before enrolling them in Southeast Missouri State University when they learn that riverboat gambling is a part of the community?

What will this mean to the enrollment at Southeast? It can only mean one thing. Enrollment will decline. Parents can find other schools for their children to attend in cities with higher moral climates and less temptation.

How does this translate in loss of business to the community? It translates into millions of dollars, for be assured, a great proportion of Cape Girardeau's economy is based on students at the university.

Entwined with this is the certain allurement of gambling to our own teenage and young adult population as well as that at the university.The casinos, wherever they are, are an insidious influence on young people, as they are to adults who should know better. Those who can least afford it will lose their wealth, their self respect and their character, while gambling operators fill their money bags and laugh at us all the way to a Las Vegas bank.

And the dregs are left behind in ruined lives and destitute, broken families.

Take Chris Hays, for example, an incarcerated gambling addict from Gilpin County, Colo., as quoted in the Granby Sky-Hi News, Aug. 13, 1992: "When proponents try to sell you on so-called limited stakes gambling, try to remember there is no such thing as `limited addiction,' `limited financial ruin,' `limited family destruction,' `limited crime wave' or `limited loss of self-esteem and pride.'"

Do not listen to the Lorelei song that can undo all that previous generations of Cape Girardeau citizens have done to build this city we love.

We may need many things here, but riverboat gambling is not one of them.

Vote "NO!" on riverboat gambling on June 8.