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Casino gaming succeeds as an economic development tool for local communities and Indian Tribes.

Gaming industry employment benefits local economies by lowering public assistance payouts, increasing sales of homes, cars and major appliances, and increasing charitable giving and volunteerism.

According to a survey of 6,200 Missouri Casino Workers in 2001 by the Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association, Missouri casino workers:

• Earn average salaries of more than $31,800 and are contributing more now to Missouri's economy than prior to their casino employment.
• Purchased 2,000 homes, 4,400 automobiles, and 4,500 major appliances in 2000. Visited approximately 295,200 restaurants or food take-out facilities with their families that year.
• One in four no longer needed the assistance of welfare since beginning work at the riverboat casinos.
• No longer needed food stamps or unemployment benefits because of their jobs in gaming.
• Could afford more suitable housing in better neighborhoods with better schools for their children.
• Were offered better health care benefits packages for themselves and their families than previous jobs.

According to a 1999 report by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, communities closest to casinos experienced a 12% to 17% drop in welfare payments, unemployment rates and unemployment insurance.

The argument that the introduction of casinos into a community will have a negative impact on local bars, restaurants and other businesses is untrue.

In the five years after legalization of gaming in Deadwood, South Dakota:

• The number of eating and drinking establishments remained steady at 60.
• The number of employees rose 25%.
• Payroll rose 72%.

In the four years after legalization of casino gaming in Blackhawk and Central City in Gilpin County, Colorado:

• The number of eating and drinking places increased 30%.
• The number of employees rose 161%.
• Total payroll for food and beverage saw an overall increase of almost 75%.

In the sixteen years after legalization of casino gaming in Atlantic City, New Jersey:

• The number of eating and drinking places rose 37%.
• The number of employees rose 50%.
• Food and beverage payroll skyrocketed almost two and a half times, rising from $28 million in 1978 to over $73 million in 1994.

In the first full year of gaming operations, retail trade grew 8.9% in Will County, Illinois while the retail sales in the rest of the state fell by 2.0%, indicating that gaming helped expand the pool of income available for consumer purchases.

• At least 12 new businesses, including a number of new restaurants, have opened in Tunica, Mississippi since riverboat gaming came to town.
• Other already established businesses in Tunica have also fared quite well since the first riverboat opened. The Blue and White Restaurant has doubled its seating capacity and added a lounge to accommodate the flow of riverboat casino patrons. So far, the owner has hired 16 new employees and has plans to open around the clock.
• The local Chevrolet dealer also reports a sharp increase in business, directly from casino operators, from local landowners and from residents who are newly employed.

Crime statistics show that communities with casinos are as safe as - if not safer than - communities that do not have casinos.

According to recent data compiled by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program:

• Las Vegas has a lower crime rate and is safer than virtually every other major American tourist venue.
• The crime rate in Atlantic City, N.J., has fallen dramatically since 1991.
• Joliet, Illinois, is experiencing its lowest crime rate in 15 years.
• Crime rates in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, have decreased every year since casino gaming has been introduced.

Based on an analysis of arrest data in 1999, there was an overall net decrease in arrests for white-collar crimes from 1998 to 1996 in the largest casino jurisdictions.

Crimes of fraud and forgery in casino jurisdictions reported significant decreases in arrests, whereas the nation as a whole experienced considerable increases.

Placer County Sheriff's Captain Brad Marenger says the 35 crime calls they received from the Thunder Valley Casino in 30 days is a very low number considering that the casino is a 24-hour, seven day a week operation.

Problem Gambling prevalence rates are not higher in jurisdictions with legalized gambling,

• A 1999 survey conducted by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, concluded that 0.1 percent of the U.S. adult population are current pathological gamblers, and is far lower than drug abuse/dependence (6.2 percent) and alcohol dependence (13.8 percent).
• The NORC survey did not find pathological gambling prevalence levels in places closest to casinos any higher than in places further from casinos.
• Gambling expansion during the past 25 years has not contributed to a comparable rise in the prevalence of problem gambling.
• Most young people gamble on non-casino card games, games of skill and sports, not at casinos where patrons must be 21 or older to place a bet.

There is no evidence to support the proposition that residents or visitors of gaming areas - including Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Reno - face heightened risks of suicide because of the presence of gambling.

• Suicide levels in U.S. casino resort areas are about average compared to non-gaming areas.
• Twenty-five metropolitan areas from virtually every part of the nation have higher visitor-suicide rates than Las Vegas.
• Seven of the top 20 areas of high suicide are in the Rocky Mountain region, which historically has had higher than average resident-suicide rates. The rates in Las Vegas and Reno are of the same rough magnitude as the rates of Tucson, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver and Colorado Springs.
• New Jersey had the second-lowest suicide rate in the nation (1990-1994), yet has had casinos for 20 years and is second only to Nevada in total casino revenue.
• Hawaii and Utah, states with no legal gambling, had higher suicide rates (1990-1994) than casino states.

Instances of bankruptcies are no greater in communities with casinos than in communities that don't have casinos.

• A1996 USA Today survey of 522 bankruptcy filers found that 63 percent cited credit card bills and 50 percent cited job loss or pay cuts as the main reason for bankruptcy. Only 2 percent cited gambling as a major factor.
• The majority of states with the highest bankruptcy rates are those with no casino gaming.
• Of the top 10 states with the largest growth in bankruptcy filings, only Mississippi has casino gaming.
• Of the 24 counties in the United States with the highest bankruptcy filing rates, none have casino gaming.