Even in Puritan New England, casino profits call

Indeed, the weak economy has forced cash-strapped states across the nation to scramble for money. Many are looking to gambling. Even those states with little or no gambling are intrigued: In November, Tennessee – one of three states with no legal gambling – will vote on whether to start a lottery.

Not since the economic doldrums of the early 1990s – when riverboat gambling spread across the Midwest – has there been such national interest.

As for New England, there's actually a long history of certain types of gambling. All 13 original colonies had lotteries to raise money for civic improvement. Non-Puritan churches often had raffles or bingo. And at state fairs, Yankees have long bet on ox pulls and harness races.

But the broader acceptance of gambling came as cities became more crowded – and as the region diversified. Irish and Italian immigrants were far less averse to games of chance. Among these working-class, typically Roman Catholic citizens, "There was less uneasiness with a kind of worldliness," says Professor Conforti. "If you went out and sinned, you'd try to stop, but confession was always there."

Now the region is considering casinos and slots. And the debate is in full gear. The benefits are obvious: "Casino gaming creates lots of well-paying jobs, it's a clean industry with no smokestacks, and it's the subject of heavy taxation," says Frank Fahrenkopf, head of the industry's lobby group, the American Gaming Association.

And casino employees tend to get paid more than others in service-sector jobs.

But there are also costs. One researcher testified before the Rhode Island legislature's commission that gambling costs the state about $20 million per year in bankruptcies, crime, and other troubles related to "problem gamblers" – between 1 percent and 5 percent of all gamblers.

It's a theme critics are increasingly jumping on. They point out that in Quebec, Canada, the coroner's office has ruled that 48 suicides in the past three years were linked to gambling. A lawsuit against the government there claims state-run video slot machines are a public-health hazard. A federal lawsuit in Indiana claims a riverboat casino didn't do enough to stop one of its patrons from losing $175,000 – his entire life's savings.

Meanwhile, Scott Harshbarger – the former Massachusetts Attorney General who now heads the civic group Common Cause – has begun to warn of potential for tobacco-like lawsuits. If the entire gambling industry "doesn't stand up and say there's a public-health issue here and take serious steps to deal with the problems," he says, "that could lead to conditions where a lawsuit is possible."

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