BOSTON
Harrah’s Entertainment pitched a proposed Rhode Island casino to college students as a place “to have fun when they’re taking a break from studying.”
In Connecticut, home to two of the world’s largest resort casinos, a 21-minimum age limit doesn’t deter young people. And colleges in Missouri changed their health center intake forms to include a space for gambling issues, after counselors found the problem was prevalent but not being addressed.
As Massachusetts debates a proposal by Gov. Deval Patrick to allow three full-scale casinos, professionals are warning that college students are more susceptible than others to gambling addictions, and that college administrations are not prepared to deal with the fallout.
“There is a steady flow of high school and college students that attempt to get into the casinos,” said Marvin Steinberg, head of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.
Patrick’s plan would put poker, roulette, slot machines and the accompanying free drinks within a short drive from many of the state’s more than 100 college campuses. And if racetrack owners in Boston or Revere win a license, students at Harvard, Boston College, Northeastern University and other schools could ride Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains to go gambling.
Harvard researchers peg the rate of college students with a severe gambling problem at 5 percent with another 7 percent considered “problem” gamblers. Both rates are about double the adult rates.
“By the time they get to college, most kids have already gambled,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, citing the lottery. “However, most have probably not had the opportunity to go to a casino with high stakes and access to credit. It would be exposing them to a new type of gambling.”
