Allowing a Medford casino isn’t worth the risks

Hopefully the feds and Medford City Council reject the proposal for a Medford casino. The location would be the former site of Kim’s Restaurant in south Medford.

The applicant, the Coquille Tribe, has no local affiliation. Plus, it already has an economy-damaging gambling facility in Coos Bay. We need another?

With gaming machines in bars, we already have too many places for people to throw money away. Plus, casinos in Canyonville, Smith River, Crescent City and North Bend are all within reach.

But the worst thing is the addictiveness of gaming machines. In strolling through gaming areas, one is struck by the entrancement and blank stares shown by those who mechanically feed money into machines. There is no show of joy, amusement or animation, only glazed, blank looks as gamers watch numbers or cards change on screens.

The relaxing of prohibitions against gaming machines was an unfortunate societal development. It turned players into liars as they exaggerate their winnings and minimize their losses to the detriment of themselves and their families.

A casino in Medford offers nothing. But will a Medford City Council that historically won’t reign in traffic-generating, farmland-depleting sprawl in a mistaken belief that geographic growth is progress have enough sense to reign in community damaging gambling?

Brent Thompson / Ashland