Casino gambling, racing swiftly toward Bangor on the back of Gov. Baldacci’s latest racino-control plan, is said, by enthusiasts, to promote economic development and, by detractors, to create personal devastation. They may both be right, according to a study from last spring that Bangor officials should review as Bangor Raceway prepares for slot machines.

Casinos and racinos are different at the high end of gambling, but the large majority of bets are similarly placed at slots, which Bangor soon will have in abundance. A study called “The Impact of Casino Gambling on Bankruptcy Rates: A County Level Analysis” compared about 250 counties nationwide with commercial or tribal casinos with non-casino counties that had similar demographics.

The study found that while business bankruptcy rates in casino counties was 35 percent lower than non-casino counties, personal bankruptcies in casino counties was more than 100 percent higher than the noncasino counties, measured between 1990 and 1999.

How this translates in Penobscot County, of course, remains to be seen over the next decade. But if Penobscot is typical, some businesses will receive a benefit from having the regional draw of gambling in their midst, but the residents doing all that spending will not fare well and neither, presumably, will their creditors.

The effect of gambling on business and household finance shouldn’t be surprising. The gambling experts Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC, conclude that Americans lose more on gambling than they spend on movies, theme parks, spectator sports and video games combined. The casino study, by Ernie Goss, professor of economics, and Edward Morse, professor of law, at Creighton University in Nebraska, notes that a Merrill Lynch estimate has Americans also losing a comparable amount each year in illegal betting.

What increased personal bankruptcies might do to the local economy and sources of credit is difficult to say, but it’s a fair bet that it wouldn’t be good. Certainly the social effects of a significant increase in this type of bankruptcy must cost something. The point is not to re-argue the merits of gambling but for the region to recognize the likely impacts of it and prepare accordingly.