Count me among those worried about the spread of gambling addiction if New York welcomes casinos as Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brighton Beach) who chairs the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, has been all over this issue and recently sent a letter to the State Legislature urging caution.

Cymbrowitz’s correspondence quoted a National Gambling Impact Study that found, “gambling addictions increase approximately 10 percent within a 50 mile radius of casinos and bankruptcy rates are about 18 percent higher in communities with casinos..."

The letter also cited a joint study by the Universities of Illinois and Georgia that “puts society's cost for a problem gambler at $13,586, while other studies place that figure as high as $52,000.”

Jim Maney, executive director of the New York State Council on Problem Gambling, said “the governor wants to ‘do gambling right,’ but that includes treating problem gambling right. While the state is promoting gambling with lottery ads and pushing this amendment, we are lacking a system to help New Yorkers with gambling problems.”

Both of these men are right.  New York should not be looking to pay off the Legislature’s bad spending habits on the backs of those most susceptible to gambling addictions.