LEVEL 1 - 110 OF 119 STORIES The Associated Press The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press. August 22, 1984, Wednesday, AM cycle SECTION: Domestic News LENGTH: 449 words HEADLINE: High School Student Survey Finds 86 Percent Gambled Last Year BYLINE: By ROBERT WADE, Associated Press Writer DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. BODY: A survey of nearly 900 New Jersey high school students found that 46 percent said they had been illegal under-age bettors at this resort's casinos, the state Council on Compulsive Gambling reported Wednesday. The Associated Press, August 22, 1984 The survey also found that 86 percent said they had gambled in the past year, and that 32 percent of the students, whose average age was 17, said they engaged in some form of gambling, legal or illegal, at least once a week, said Robert M. Klein, the council's executive director. "The study does get at the question of 'Is there a problem of compulsive gambling among high school students?' And the answer is, 'Yes,"' said Dr. Henry R. Lesieur, a St. John's University sociology professor who organized the survey of 892 students last spring. Legalized forms of gambling in New Jersey include the casinos' games, horse racing, bingo, a state lottery and raffles. State officials estimate that about $14 billion was wagered on all legal forms of gambling in New Jersey last year. Statistics show that the majority of the bets were placed at casinos, where the law requires that patrons be at least 21 years old. The National Council on Compulsive Gambling estimates there are about 10 million compulsive gamblers nationwide, and that about 375,000 of them live in New Jersey. The Associated Press, August 22, 1984 The questionnaires were distributed to students at three high schools in the northern, central and southern parts of the state by Martin Rimm, 19, a University of South Florida student. Rimm made headlines as a 16-year-old Atlantic City high school student when he wrote in his school newspaper about how he donned a suit, Arab headdress and sunglasses and entered a casino, where he posed as a wealthy sheik and was offered free drinks and meals. "There is a gambling problem among youth because of the availability of gambling," said Rimm. "This is why we are cultivating a generation of compulsive gamblers. The more available it is, the more they will gamble." Klein, who presented the findings during a meeting of the Casino Control Commission, said his council is seeking funding for education programs that would help students and parents detect compulsive gambling. He suggested that fines collected from casinos found guilty of allowing minors to gamble should be put toward a program to educate youngsters about the dangers of compulsive gambling. The Associated Press, August 22, 1984 Casino Control Commissioner Carl Zeitz, a strong supporter of treatment programs for compulsive gamblers, pointed out that state law already requires that fines collected from casinos be put into the Casino Revenue Fund, which is used to help pay utility and pharmaceutical bills for the elderly and handicapped in New Jersey. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH