Gambling has invaded practically every area of life and poses a serious threat to our nation and its homes. Rare is the family that is not affected by America's something-for-nothing craze. 

BRANSON, Mo., July 22, 2004 - While voters across the state are receiving erroneous versions of Amendment 1 in their mailboxes from backers of a Rockaway Beach casino, opponents of the casino measure are praising state newspapers for speaking out against the misleading ad campaign. 

Constitutional Amendment 1 is about whether Missourians will expand gambling. When Missourians approved riverboat casinos in 1992, they limited these to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Now, Missourians are asked "...to authorize floating gambling facilities on or adjacent to the White River in Rockaway Beach..." 

According to a recent report by the Employee Assistance Program at the University of Texas at Austin, since 1997 billions of dollars (approximately 14 billion per year) worth of productivity was lost by business and industry through absenteeism, wasted time, poor work performance, loss of income, criminal acts such as theft, accident, rehabilitation and recovery, and medical treatment, due to gambling and gambling related problems.