Wanna bet? You may need to be 21

Leigh-Anne Brown Arizona Daily Wildcat Communications freshman Rene Hatlelid, 18, gets carded at the Desert Diamond Casino. Soon underage students like Hatlelid may not be able to gamble at Arizona casinos due to the possibility of the gambling age being raised from 18 to 21.

Sewell, a molecular and cellular biology junior, is one student whose experience gambling in the casinos has been very positive.

Proposed state legislation may prevent young adults like Sewell from ever striking rich on a slot machine.

Rep. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, is spearheading an effort to change Arizona's legal gambling age from 18 to 21, which would affect horse and dog tracks, tribal casinos and the state lottery.

"A constituent talked to me with regard to the proliferation of the casinos in Arizona," Johnson said of her proposal, which this week easily passed both the House Rules and Government Reform and States Rights committees.

"As the age to drink is 21, this makes a lot more sense," she added.

Sewell said he thinks the change would be unreasonable.

"If you're 18, you should be able to do whatever you want," he said.

Iliana Angel, a 20-year-old marketing junior, agreed.

"I think this is a stupid idea. At 18 you're an adult," she said.

Angel said she fondly remembers borrowing a dollar from a friend to play a slot machine and walking out of a casino with $40.

"I pulled the lever and watched as I got three sevens," she said. "It was incredible, because I never win on slot machines and it takes absolutely no skill."

Angel said she considered her winnings "mad money" and bought dinner for her friend. She saved the rest as extra spending cash.

Don Hulen, executive director of the Arizona Council on Compulsive Gambling, agreed that for many 18- to 21-year-olds, gambling is fun. He said he worries, however, about the potential for addiction.

"We know that the vast majority of young people who are problem gamblers don't make phone calls (to addiction help lines)," Hulen said.

He said that, although he does not have statistics for Arizona's young gamblers, other states have published alarming figures.

Hulen cited statistics from a Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey report showing that in 1996, 9 percent of gambling help line phone calls came from people under 21.

"We are very concerned about the growing number of teenagers - who find it necessary to seek help for a gambling problem," the New Jersey report states. "The stories are heartbreaking because it involves the beginning of a lifetime."

Hulen said the legislation could check the growth of young-adult gambling addictions.

"When I speak with kids from universities, almost all the guys know people that gamble on sports betting - many of them are bookies," Hulen said.

Although he said he realizes college-aged students are old enough to make their own decisions, he understands how easy it is to become a problem gambler.

"When I was in that age group (18 to 21) and in the military, it was my belief that if you are old enough to die for this country, you are old enough to do anything else in this country," Hulen said. "However, as I have become involved in the clinical and practical side of gambling, I have changed my opinion."

"I am in support of the legislation to change the age limit as an individual," Hulen added, "not because I mistrust the ability of the young people to make decisions, but because I am concerned about those young people having money to gamble with."

Patrick Call, associate director of the University of Arizona's Department of Residence Life, said the department does not allow resident assistants to go to casinos with their residents.

"It's the type of activity that as a department we don't want to encourage, because gambling is one of those things that is so easily addictive," Call said. "We feel that there are many more things that are more beneficial to growth and learning than goin g out to a casino."

Neither Sewell nor Angel said they feel they are in danger of falling into the compulsive gambling trap.

"I've gone with my friends several times," Sewell said, "and you don't expect to win money, because you don't."

Angel agreed.

"I've tried to never spend more than $10 because it's for entertainment only and it wouldn't be fun to spend $40," she said. "I just make sure I only have $10 on me and don't bring my ATM card."

Johnson said she based her legislation partly on what she called the personal growth people experience between ages 18 and 21.

"There seems to be quite a jump in maturity between those ages," she said, adding that among citizens' rights, there are some good ones and bad ones.

"I see voting and serving your country as character building activities," she said. "Gambling is a vice."

With the backing of key House and Senate Republicans, including Speaker Jeff Groscost, R-Mesa, Johnson said she was optimistic about her proposal's success.

She introduced a similar measure that passed the House last year, but ended up buried in a Senate committee.

Even if the bill becomes law this year, it may not have much impact on local casinos' revenue.

Ned Norris, manager of Desert Diamond Casino, 7350 S. Nogales Highway, said his casino does not focus its advertising on the 18- to 21-year-old age group.

"We make some attempt to market the younger demographic, but our surveys say that 88 percent of our customers are older than 35," Norris says. "We haven't paid a lot of attention to the younger age group."

Wildcat reporter Zach Thomas contributed to this report from Phoenix.