To a casual bettor, $20 buys a temporary thrill. But to a struggling family, that same $20 is dinner. The vast disparity between these two experiences underscores how assessing gambling harm strictly in lost dollars and cents ignores a fundamental truth: Even minor losses can impose a devastating toll on vulnerable individuals and households.
Proponents who are pushing for online casinos in Maryland promise boundless tax revenue with minimal downsides, selectively ignoring who disproportionately pays the price of legalization. While addiction spans every socioeconomic background, these advocates routinely turn a blind eye to the outsized destruction inflicted on vulnerable neighborhoods.
Virginia rightfully rejected legalizing online casinos this past spring, recognizing the threat of putting a 24/7 slot machine within arm’s reach of every state resident. Before Maryland rejects Virginia’s good example and follows neighboring states down the legalization path, lawmakers must face the facts: The expansion of digital gambling represents a rapidly escalating public health crisis.
Harvard public health expert Shekhar Saxena estimates online casinos are 10 times more addictive than other gambling products due to their constant availability and product design, which aims to keep users on the app continually seeking dopamine rushes.
In Pennsylvania, a state where both online sportsbooks and online casinos are legal, 11% of online gamblers reported that they were unemployed. Nearly 13% said their income amounted to less than $10,000 annually.
When platforms extract money from those with the least to lose, the immediate tax windfall for the state is swallowed by the long-term public burden.
For every person struggling with problem gambling, six others are negatively impacted, and those experiencing problem gambling are 15 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
Additionally, spouses of those experiencing gambling harm are 10 times more likely to end up in the emergency room because those with a gambling disorder are nearly 37% more likely to domestically abuse their partners.
There’s no reason to believe Maryland would be immune to this wave of human destruction should it choose to ignore the mounting evidence that legalization of online gambling is a terrible idea that puts people in harm’s way.
The precedent has already been set. Look at what happened when mobile sports betting went live in Maryland in 2022, a shift that unleashed an immediate public health crisis across vulnerable communities without a single dollar allocated to address the harms.
Since then, the problem gambling rate amongst Black Marylanders has surged from 8% in 2022 and now stands at 10.6%. That is over five times the national average. Online casinos will only drive that number higher, as the Black community suffers outsized harms from gambling compared with other populations.
While we cannot put a price tag on human suffering, we can measure the devastating economic toll. One recent report determined the social costs gambling creates for New Jersey amount to $350 million annually, including medical care, social safety net expenses and child protective services resources. Another study determined that state-funded interventions for a gambling disorder average around $10,000 for a single individual.
Beyond the raw statistics, the economic logic of online gambling advocates falls apart. The revenue they claim will be gained doesn’t add up because it will be siphoned directly from the pockets of everyday Marylanders.
Numerous studies determined states with expanded online gambling report higher incidents of personal bankruptcies and lower credit scores. New Federal Reserve Bank of New York research determined there was a 10% increase in delinquent payment rates of bettors.
Lastly, it’s important to point out that the residents these “funds” are coming from might be experiencing the most harm of all. Connecticut research found that 71% of gambling revenue comes from just 7% of gamblers, all of whom meet the criteria for at-risk or problem gambling.
Online casinos in Maryland will not create new money. They will only create more costs and the kinds of harm that no amount of money can fix.
Brianne Doura-Schawohl is the director of the national Campaign for Fairer Gambling and founder and CEO of Doura-Schawohl Consulting.
