National Day Of Action Against Predatory Gambling

This is family policy matter program is produced by the North Carolina family policy Council of profamily research and education organization dedicated to strengthening and preserving the family and up from the studio here is John Rustin, Pres. North Carolina family policy Council, thank you for joining us this week for family policy matters. It is a great pleasure to have Adam portrayed with us on the program. Adam is the cofounder and leader along with his wonderful wife Cynthia Kings Mountain awareness group, which is a coalition of concerned citizens working to build opposition to a proposed 220,000 square-foot gambling casino. The South Carolina based Catawba Indian nation is seeking to build adjacent to Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Adam also serves on the Board of Directors and as Dir. of grassroots development stop predatory gambling, which is a national organization dedicated to raising awareness about the harms of gambling to individuals to families and to our society. Adam is with us today to talk about the upcoming national day of action against predatory gambling first ever event that is sponsored by stop predatory gambling event is scheduled for September 26 and 27th in cities across America, including Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and will be talking with Adam about the purpose of the day of action and how North Carolinians can get involved in this Adam, it's great to have you back with us on family policy matters are strictly back John flood the beer with you.

Well were delighted to have you know, Adam, last time you were on the show about a year ago.

You shared with us some of the things that you and Cynthia had been doing to raise awareness of the harms are related to a proposed Indian casino was proposed to be built in Kings Mountain and the surrounding area. Obviously, we want to talk about the national day of action against predatory gambling. But before we do that for the benefit of our listeners give us a quick update on the status of the proposed Catawba Indian casino. What's the latest John artificial parameters. There's really very little to report the trust application is still under review in Washington DC and it could remain that way for another year or even longer. Unfortunately, our local elected leader. Still, as a majority want this casino to come to Kings Mountain locally. My group continues to educate the community as well as lobby local officials to rescind their support weeks ago we as a group sponsored the national victims advocate from stop predatory gambling to come to Kings Mountain and hold through community education forms on gambling addiction were also involved in the upcoming election, which were going to make the potential casino like major issue for candidates. Well, it certainly an important issue and something that folks on the local level have been very involved in engaged with, and that we are so appreciative of all of your work and that of Cynthia and others who are really leading this effort on the local level Adam Tellis about the national day of action against predatory gambling. What's the purpose of this event and how did the idea for such an event come about John. The purpose of the event is to focus national attention on a failed government policy that creates immense amounts of hormone local and regional levels.

Most people understand that predatory gambling creates some local harm, but few people realize how much damage and how prevalent it is nationwide.

Very few people know how much devastation is being inflicted on individual lives by this policy are our goal of this event is to highlight the fact that every day from coast-to-coast and towns, big and small. A deliberate government policy is wrecking people's lives and families as well as killing a significant number of individuals as far as is concept of the event for the lighting and in Oregon, Rhonda. 1520 years ago. Her brother committed suicide because he became gambling addict and lost everything else. She began a local day of memorial for him online engage local citizens to protest the government policy that led to suicide.

And we, as a national organization of stop predatory gambling heard her story reached out to her and decided that she had a really good idea and that we would take it national and see if we can generate some traction will good for you. It's unfortunate that it takes circumstances like Folks Often See the Lie about the Harms of Gambling, Course of the Nuclear Family Policy Council We Been Studying This Issue for over Two Decades and the Evidence Is Absolutely Clear That the Gambling in Any Form Has Significant Harms That Ripple throughout Society Not Only to the Individuals That Are Caught up in a Gambling Addiction but to Their Family Members, Their Employers or Employees, and All Other Folks That Are Impacted in Some Way by That Now and We Speak Often in Terms of Predatory Gambling. What Exactly Does That Mean What Kind of Gambling Activities Are Included. As We Use That Term. What You're Absolutely Right, and What You Just Said Predatory Gambling Is Distinguished by Several Characteristics of These Include the Speed of the Game.

The Buzzer Hobbit People Get When I Apply the Frequency That They Gambling the Length of Time That They Do It Primarily Predatory Is Related to the Business Practices Used To Promote It in the Fact These Casinos Make No Effort at All.

People Who Are Obviously Harming Themselves. They Also Vigorously Target the Elderly, and Perhaps the Biggest Identifiers That Predatory Gambling Is Always Government-Sponsored Home. If You're Looking to Make an Example of What Predatory Really Means What Melinda Whitfield Is the National Victims Advocate for Organization and Choose a Reformer Addict Herself on a Recent Trip Oklahoma One of the Days We Were There Was Her Birthday.

She Received a Phone Call and an Email from Two Separate Casinos Offering Her Free Gambling Dollars That She Would Come Gambling. Her Birthday That Auditory Gambling Will Absolutely and Is As We Know It Is out. I Know That You Have Testified in and Found in Your Research Dealing with the Proposed Casino in Kings Mountain That the Vast Majority of That Would Be Video Based on Those Video Games Are Designed by Computers to Have the Participants Sit and Play As Much As I Possibly Can. As the Industry Talks about Play to Extinction, Which Essentially Means That They're There and I Spend Every Cent That They Have in Their Pocket and Run up Loads of Credit to Fuel That Gambling Addiction and That Is Exactly What the Industry Is Is Bent on Doing Is Squeezing Every Dollar They Can Out Of These Individuals That Are Either Participating from Time to Time, or Those That Are Our Full-Blown Gambling Addicts, You're Absolutely Right. There's There's an Entire Science behind Addicting and People in Developing Players on and I Don't like It Clear to the Listeners. Examples of Predatory Gambling Include Both Commercial and Tribal Casinos but Are Not Limited to That of a Statewide Lottery Is Every Bit As Predatory and in Different Ways of Casino Is Well, It Certainly Is and Is Working Right Now in the State Legislature� The State Lottery. There Are Always Efforts over and over and over Again to Expand the Types of Games. The Advertising Different Methods of Play in Those Types of Things so It Really Just It. It Is a Vicious Cycle That Feeds on Itself, but Is Only Spurred All the Addiction of Citizens Who Get Caught up in That. Now Adam the Message of This National Event Is the Predatory Gambling Sheets and Harms Everyone, Even Those Who Don't Gamble That We Touched on This a Little Bit but Explain Force If You Will Help Predatory Gambling and in Particular Casino Gambling Really Does Hurt Communities beyond Just the Individual Gamblers Who May Be Addicted or Become Addicted Themselves to Good Question. Predatory Gambling Forms Communities in Many Ways, Some Directing Many Indirect the Biggest Impact the Community Is That This Form of Gambling Intentionally Increases on Fairness and Equality. What I Mean by That Is That This Gambling Is Marketed and Directed at the Poorest Segment of Society Can Least Afford to Suffer Any Financial Losses at All. It Successfully Marketed As a Surefire Way to End a Person's Financial Loads. The Reality Is That the Poor and Disadvantaged Only Become More Afflicted by Poverty and Trying to Win the Golden Ticket As Far As Direct Impact You Can Look at Triple Gambling Addiction Rights in the Immediate Areas around the Casino That Leads to a Host of Community Impact Such As Increased Child in Spouse Abuse, Neglected Families, and Increased Crime Rights Are Also Things Such As Increased DWIs and a Large Increase in Drug and Sex Trafficking Occurring in Casino Communities across the Nation Right Now As We Speak. Now Adam, As You Mentioned Earlier, the Purpose of the National Day of Action against Predatory Ambling Is Really to Highlight the Voices of Americans Who Have Been Harmed by Gambling Share with Us If You Will.

One or Two of the Stories That Have Inspired You and Have Inspired This National Event. John Just Keep It on a Local Level There. We Have One Right Here in Our Community to His Reached out during Our Our Local Efforts Here over the past Almost 2 Years Now. Her Story Is Just Absolutely Awful and It's a Prime Example of How This Failed Policy Impacts All of This Lady Was Diagnosed with MS As a Teenager and Had Become Unable to Walk for Family Was Desperately Saving Money to Buy Her a Wheelchair and Mine Were Almost at Their Goal. Her Father Unfortunately Was an Addicted Gambling Addict Who Frequented the Local Video Poker Parlors Back When Those Legal Unfortunately He Took the Wiltshire Money to the Poker Hall and Lost Every Bit of Rather Than Face. His Daughter and Admit What He Had Done. He Brought the Local Business to Try to Get the Money Back and He Was Caught Just after He Was Released on Bail. He Committed Suicide. Look at All the People Infected Just Someone Government-Sponsored Gambling Addict from the Daughter the Entire Family Business That Will Drop It. Even Local Justice System Were All Impacted Fairly and None of Them Gamble.

That's What We Mean When We Say That It Impacts Everybody There Are Literally Thousands of Stories Such As the Suburban America Well.

This Clearly Is a Widespread Problem. It Is Truly Is. And It's Not Just Centered in the Communities Where Casinos May Be Located.

Although, As You Said, That's Were Such a High Concentration of Gambling Addiction Exist, but McCall State Lotteries Are so Prevalent across North Carolina and across the Country.

There Are Lots and Lots and Lots of People Affected by How Many Cities Are Currently Planning on Hosting Events on the National Day of Action and within North Carolina. How Many of Those Events Are Planned Here� Many Separate Cities Are Represented Doing the Right Now We Have 67 Separate Actions That Are Committed to by Groups Nationwide.

We Also Have Groups in the UK and Australia That Have Jumped on Board and Committed to an Action. So Far, North Carolina. We Only Have the Action. My Group Is Doing Some Your Listeners Today Will Change That North Carolina Number. Well, We Certainly Want to Encourage Them to Do That and If They Have an Interest. We Will Be Providing Information to Them and Just Become a Moment about How They Can Host an Event or Participate in an Event in Their City or Town Now Talk to Us a Little Bit about so They Understand Maybe Better for What Is Going to Happen on the Day of Action. What Types of Activities Will Be Taking Place and What Do You Hope to Accomplish in the Local Community with the Specific Event. The Accident My Group Thinking Is Not an Awareness Group What What We're Doing Here Is a Combination of a Prayer Vigil for Local and State Officials to Draw Predatory Gambling As a Revenue Policy and a Memorial for Predatory Gambling Victims. Our Dusk Event Will Have Luminaries with Victims, Pictures and Stories on Mount. We Will Also Have Signed Specific to the Events Goals. I Think Eight Local Pastors That Have Signed on and Committed to to Lead Individual Portions of the Prayer Vigil in the Cool Thing about This Event Is Each Local Action Were Asking People to Photographically Document Direction Were Going to Collect All Those Nationally and Put Those on the National Website so Were Going to Emphasize the Fact That This Is Not Just A Few Local People� A Nationwide Phonics Now Adam Said As We Talked about.

I Know That You like to See More Day of Action Events Taking Pl. in North Carolina what your listeners do to help organize and participate in events in their communities. We got several resources your listeners can reach out to for assistance. And you're absolutely correct that we had an STD stop predatory gambling would like to have more events in North Carolina, particularly in the Raleigh capital area. This will really need some visibility need to show our elected officials that this is a policy that everyone wants no, your listeners can use their imagination and come up with any kind of accident they wish and that they feel present to the message we got people across country doing events such as I said in another local casino per visuals, armband ceremonies, and many others. If they can come up with the concept of participants we can got them through the rest will that's great and where can I go to get information about the events and about stop predatory gambling. I am available at stop Catawba casino@gmail.com.

I can also be reached through message to our group's Facebook page, which is the Kings Mountain awareness group.

The SPG national coordinator is Melinda Litchfield and she can be reached at melinda@stoppredatorygambling.org and if all else fails your listeners to go to stop credit.org and use the contact us tab to get signed up and receive assistance in planning and press releases and so forth maximum limit repeat that website. That's stop predatory.org. The event is scheduled for September 26 and 27th in cities across America, including Kings Mountain, North Carolina. What was at Adam for Kate. Unfortunately, were out of for this week, but I want to thank you so much for being part of family policy matters for talking with us about the national day of action against predatory gambling and for all of your great work and efforts to stop not only the proposed Catawba Indian casino in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, which are efforts that are benefiting citizens all across our nation. I will thank you, John also want to thank you and work on family policy Council for not only giving me some airtime and some advertising for this event, but all all the things you've done for our group.

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