Governments like Pennsylvania's have become revenue-dependent promoters of the gambling industry instead of focusing on how to prevent and address social problems from the spread of casinos, a professor who studies the industry said yesterday.

Robert Goodman, a professor of architecture at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., told a group at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work that Pennsylvania politicians are but the latest to succumb to use of "pariah taxes" to rescue their budgets.

The true costs of gambling expansion need to be tallied, he said, from the treatment required of compulsive gamblers, and the effect they have on the bank accounts of relatives or friends, or added pressure on the criminal justice system from such problems as fraudulent use of credit cards and checks.

He contended that newly legalized gambling could cost Pennsylvania $800 million annually if it leads to a 1 percent increase in compulsive gambling, at a social cost per person of $10,000, which Professor Goodman described as conservative estimates. Governments bear responsibility for such problems along with the gambling industry, he said, but officials frequently fail to address new needs.

He said some studies have suggested that more than one-fourth of casino revenue comes from problem gamblers, with the number of such individuals increasing whenever gambling becomes more accessible to them.

"You have government paying for [general state] services on the back of people with behavioral problems. That's something that ought to be debated in every state legislature," said Dr. Goodman, author of the book, "The Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling Explosion."

Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Ed Rendell approved creation of 14 slots operations at racetracks and stand-alone parlors to generate more than $1 billion a year, according to state projections, for property tax reduction and economic development projects. The first of the racetrack casinos opened this week near Wilkes-Barre. The Meadows holds a ground-breaking ceremony this morning for its facility to open in the spring in Washington County.

"Government has moved from being a regulator, particularly when it comes to gambling, to being one of the chief promoters of it," Professor Goodman said. "Just like the addicted gambler, they're finding themselves becoming more and more addicted to these revenues."

He called gambling a "bottom-feeding industry" that will not rely on tourists for income in Pennsylvania, but on people living within a 50-to-75-mile radius. They will indulge in convenience gambling that rearranges dollars in the local economy without adding to it, what the professor said economists call a "zero-sum game." Once the industry gets a foothold, it has a tendency to expand even more, such as to seek longer hours of operation or more types of games or slot machines that work faster and generate more revenue.

James Allen, director of Allegheny County's drug and alcohol division, said he and treatment providers are awaiting guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health on how the anticipated increase in gambling addiction cases is to be addressed. It's uncertain what $1.5 million dedicated to problem gambling issues from the slots revenue will be able to accomplish, he said, other than supporting a hotline for people to call.