Jamul Indian Village Casino; Crackheads, Cancer & Crime 

    The poster child for a Native American tribe that has lost its way is the small East San Diego County Jamul Indian Village Tribe. Jamul has approximately 50 tribal members on a reservation that encompasses less than 6 acres. In comparison, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians who operate a casino in the Palm Springs area has approximately 1,000 tribal members on a reservation that ecompasses more than 35,000 acres. After more than 20 years of fierce opposition, Jamul forced their casino on San Diegans in 2016. Unlike most Native American tribe pathways to opening a casino, prior to the casino, Jamul had no revenue streams and was forced to partner with Penn Gaming (the casino was originally named Hollywood Casino). Within 2 years Jamul defaulted on their financial obligations to Penn and was forced to run the casino on their own with the current disastrous results.

        Even while still owing Penn Gaming millions, Jamul is currently expanding and building a hotel adjacent to the casino which is expected to open in 2025. How do you build a 3 level casino, 16 story hotel and 5 level parking structure on 6 acres? First you evict and silence the remaining tribal residents, especially those who oppose the desecration of their ancestral burial grounds, then you build on top of and all around your ancestors! When the casino, new hotel and parking structure are complete, it will occupy all but less than 1/4 acre of the Jamul Indian Village tribe's ancestral burial grounds. Even the sacredness of  their ancestral graves could not did not stop the Jamul Indian Village tribe's greed.

        California passed the country's first smoking ban in 1995. Some trihes, like the Sycuan Band of Mission Indians also in the San Diego area, sell their own brands of cigarettes. Jamul doubled down on cancer and gives away a free pack of cigarettes a day to players, even the highly addictive banned menthol cigarettes! The stench of stale cigarettes and second hand smoke that permeate throughout Jamul Casino are stifling and hazardous. Cigarette ash fill the casino floor, machines and bartops. Cigarettes and second hand smoke kill approximately 50,000 Californians a year, or the equivalent of the population of San Luis Obispo.

 Homeless people, crackheads and vagrants routinely rome the Jamul Casino floor harassing gamblers, panhandling, looking to steal money left in machines, sleeping in their vehicles and bathing in the bathrooms. The single lane road passing through the once quiet, quaint, rural, small town of Jamul, has now been turned into an endless line of traffic and fatal accidents. In 2023, one of Jamul's highest rollers had $50,000 stolen in the casino's high limit room. The player was banned from Jamul Casino after filing a $200,000 negligence civil lawsuit. Also in 2023, an elderly player was robbed in front of the VIP entrance in broad daylight. There were over 6,000 security incidents at Jamul Casino in 2023. Instead of investing in an industry standard security program (Jamul Casino's Beverage Director is also in charge of retail, waste management and security), Jamul is building a hotel. Once the hotel opens, it will be a haven for drug dealing and other illegal activities. It will only be a mater of time before a robbery or murder occur at Jamul Casino. 

  If Barona Casino is San Diego's "Happiest Casino on Earth," then Jamul Casino is infamously San Diego's "Smokiest and Most Dangerous Casino on Earth."