Incidence of all crime combined increased by 138%- and this figure includes all categories of violent crime, including rape and robbery.Since Illinois legalized riverboat gambling, funding fostate police has increased 50%, or 100 million dollars per year.26 Charles Cozic said, "The best estimates of increased costs to Illinois's criminal justice system[from gambling] appear to range between 1.03-1.18 billion dollars." This amount of money is much more than the state has received from the casinos. A high percentage of these problems stem from pathological/compulsive gamblers, who in 1990 cost the city of Chicago approximately $52,000 per year per gambler. They also cost the state of Maryland alone 1.5 billion dollars in lost work, productivity, stolen or embezzled monies, and state taxes not paid.27The compulsive gambler is the biggest problem that gambling produces. Most compulsive gamblers live unhappy and frightened lives.28 They almost always lose more than they can win and since they are stubborn and childish, they continue to chase the lost money in a bitter, angry, driven mood.29 Also, they are always on the way down, losing more and more money, and going deeper and deeper in debt to banks, finance companies, relatives, and friends.30 Compulsive gamblers lose their tempers frequently, often striking anyone at any time.31 They have been known to have no limits in obtaining money. Murder, stealing, embezzling, conning, and even resorting to prostitution or putting their wives into prostitution have been known ways of getting money to pay off gambling debts.32People become compulsive gamblers through peer pressure and social pressure. Most are very competitive, athletic, have above average intelligence, and are motivated to achieve.33 Many gamble for a death instinct, a need to lose, a wish to repeat a big win, identification, and a desire for action or excitement.34 Out of the three million compulsive gamblers in Amer...
