That's not true. What kind of prostitutes and drugs would you expect around a loner's house who gambles with bitcoins? The big hotel-casinos is a different thing as they have to create that ambience for the big rollers. They're often associated with high lifestyles like cocaine, models and bg cars. It has nothing to do with gambling really.
Most people that gamble do it occasionally and do not put their lifestyle at risk by gambling, so it is very clear to me that such people are not going to commit any kind of crimes because of gambling, the problem gets more complicated when we are talking about a person that is addicted, and as we know such a person is going to do everything they can to afford their addiction, in that case I think it is possible to say that gambling may have a harmful effect on those people and society in general.
However as a person that strongly believes in self determination, I really do not like to blame external factors when it comes to taking responsibility for your actions, so if those people are committing crimes then they are the ones responsible for that and not gambling.
I agree. Gambling is just a business like any other business around. If an enterprise is associated with crime it's because of the human factor, not because of the enterprise itself. There are musicians transporting cocaine in violin cases, chemistry teachers manufacturing illegal drugs, doctors engaging in black market organ trading etc. And, on the other hand, there are poker players like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel and Antonio Esfandiari who are not associated with any criminal activity, but they are gamblers in every sense of the word.