Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Roll Call Time: Marketing to Self-Admitted Gambling Addicts

In Connecticut casinos and elsewhere, there's what's called the "Self-Exclusion list," which is basically a list that people can sign themselves up for that will bar them from gambling at the casino. It's a way for people who've developed a pathological problem and are ready to admit it to help themselves be able to put up a self-created barrier from gambling, when the lure is so close by.

Representative Atkins offered an amendment which would ban casinos from marketing to the people who put themselves on the casino's own self-exclusion lists... and it just barely passed by four votes, with 76 representatives voting against it. So here's the wall of shame, the 76 legislators who think casinos should be able to use their self-exclusion lists as a marketing bonanza, as well as the three who didn't bother to vote at all.

Neas: DeLeo, Vallee, Mariano, Haddad, Petrolati, Aguiar, Alicea, Allen, Basile, Binienda, Bowles, Bradley, Brady, Cabral, Calter, Canavan, Canessa, Coakley-Rivera, Costello, Dempsey, DiNatale, Donato, Dykema, Fagan, Fennell*, Finegold, Flynn, Forry, Galvin, Garry, Gobi, Gregoire, Honan, Kafka, Kaufman, Koczera, Kujawski, McCarthy, McMurtry, Michlewitz, Moran, Murphy C.A., Murphy J., Nyman, Pedone, Pignatelli, Quinn, Reinstein, Richardson, Rodrigues, Rosa, Rush, Rushing, Sanchez, Sandlin, Smith, Smizik, Spellane*, Spiliotis, Swan, Timilty, Wallace, Walsh S., Walz, Jones, Peterson, Poirier, Barrows, Gifford, Hargraves*, Humason, Perry, Polito, Ross, Smola, Webster.

Did not vote: Conroy, Creedon, Harkins.

*means after the vote.

Again, any legislators who feel as though casinos should be able to market those who come to them in confidence and ask that their names be taken so they can't use the casino again should feel free to write to Ryan's Take and try to justify their positions. I'll post your comments in full.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Casinos are in the business of exploiting addiction. The bulk of their profits comes from problem gamblers. They wouldn't be in business if they had to rely on customers who keep their losses under control.

You can take a stand by signing this poll to boycott casinos and put your money into the healthier parts of the economy:
http://gopetition.com/online/35348.html

About Ryan's Take