44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LOTTERY AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FOR A STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF LEGALIZED GAMBLING ON TEENS IN NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, in recent years the state has legalized a state-run lottery, Indian casinos and slot machine gambling in specified locations in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, anecdotal evidence is abundant that adolescents from twelve to eighteen years old in New Mexico are gambling in large numbers; and

WHEREAS, in 1996 the department of health released a study surveying gambling behavior in New Mexico and cataloging damage done to adults who gamble at casinos and other gambling venues in New Mexico, but did not provide any data or conclusions on the impact of gambling on teens; and

WHEREAS, recent studies of the impact of expanded gambling on teens that were released in 1998, and that were conducted at Harvard medical school and at Louisiana state university, show that where casino, lottery and other forms of gambling are made legal for adults, a very high percentage of teens gamble illegally and that between twelve to fifteen percent of the teens develop gambling problems; and

WHEREAS, the New Mexico lottery authority is required by law to set aside up to two percent of gross annual revenues from the New Mexico state lottery in a reserve fund for various purposes, including compulsive gambling rehabilitation; and

WHEREAS, a study of the effect of legalized gambling on teens in New Mexico would be an excellent and appropriate use of at least one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($125,000) of the money that the New Mexico lottery authority is required to set aside for such purposes;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the board of directors of the New Mexico lottery authority be requested to fund and contract with the department of health or other appropriate agency or person to conduct a study of the effect of all forms of legalized gambling on teens in New Mexico and report its findings to the second session of the forty-fourth legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study:

A. determine the percentage of adolescents from twelve to twenty-one years old that are gambling in New Mexico, the forms of gambling used most frequently, the demographics of the teens who gamble and the percentage of teens that would be considered serious problem gamblers using measures in the 1996 department of health study;

B. examine various factors that may contribute to or promote teen gambling, such as family influences and the effect that government sponsorship of gambling has on legitimizing gambling in the minds of young people;

C. determine what percentage of teens resort to illegal means to raise money to support their gambling habit and what other dangerous and destructive behaviors are promoted by their gambling problems; and

D. recommend remedies for addressing the problems related to teen gambling; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the board of directors of the New Mexico lottery authority and to the secretary of health.