Interviewed by WTTW's John Callaway on Friday, Cook Co. Sheriff Tom Dart strongly opposed the state legislature's move to legalize video poker as a way to pay for a capital infrastructure program.  Watch it (full video here):

Before the revenue proposal passed both chambers last week, Dart had expressed similar concerns to the Sun-Times Mark Brown. Speaking of which, the Sun-Times editorialized in opposition to the proposal today, noting the lack of substantive discussion in Springfield:

We'd love to report to you how our state lawmakers thoughtfully debated that critical question to arrive at a reasoned conclusion.

And we would like to think that Gov. Quinn could then consider the arguments made in that lengthy debate before signing of video poker gambling into law -- or not. [...]

We'd love to give you the blow- by-blow of that intelligent and informed debate.

Problem is, it never happened.

The editorial, however, overlooks one of the more disconcerting aspects of this gaming expansion: Illinois does an abysmal job of providing assistance to problem gamblers. From Joseph Ryan's Daily Herald report last year:

A Daily Herald review of the state's casino industry reveals that Illinois falls far short compared to other states in helping gambling addicts even though their tremendous losses bolster the state's bank account, allowing lawmakers to avoid unpopular tax hikes.

This has left a safety net riddled with holes for a projected 384,622 adults in Illinois who are problem or pathological gamblers. [...]

Between 1995 and 2007, the state took in a total of $13.5 billion from legalized gambling and spent $7.3 million on treatment or awareness campaigns.

How do other Midwestern states deal with the problem? Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa all set aside three or four times as much for these types of resources. Minnesota, for example, allows problem gamblers to receive inpatient treatment free of charge. In Illinois, a similar 90-day program would cost the patient nearly $30,000.  As Ryan noted, "Few problem gamblers have that kind of money."