Fickle Iowans [news article] and TouchPlay Machines [report]

The newspaper article "Fickle Iowans gamble billions" (12 March, 2006) from the online version of the Des Moines Register register contains a good overview of the history of gambling in Iowa as well as the following lesser-known facts about the State:

• Iowa ranks fourth among states in the percentage of residents who are binge drinkers (18.9 percent had five or more drinks on the same occasion in the last month), according to the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.
• Iowa topped the nation in per-capita readership of Playboy in 2004.
• As late as 1963, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that pinball machines were "illegal gambling devices" if free games could be won.Then-Iowa Attorney General Richard Turner began a crusade in the 1960s to close bingo halls.

Also entioned in the article is the recently-released "TouchPlay Task Force Report" (2006, March) which addresses concerns made about TouchPlay devices which closely resemble video lottery terminals.