Coney Islanders Against a Casino, a group of residents who are doing all they can to oppose the proposed gaming center coming to the area, held an anti-casino panel and forum on Feb. 12.
“(The American Psychiatric Association) now defines gambling addiction at the same level as heroin, opioids and cocaine. We do not market those products like the state government markets gambling,” said Les Bernal, national director of Stop Predatory Gambling & Campaign for Gambling-Free Kids. “Online gambling is like gambling fentanyl, it’s like the most extreme form of all. It's opening the casino right in your bedroom so you can sit there in your pajamas and lose everything.”
The Maryland Senate began hearings Wednesday on a bill to remove some of the last blocks to unfettered gaming statewide a plan that would ask voters to legalize online gaming for sponsors paying a hefty licensing fee.