Location Could Influence Gambling Problems, According To Study

New Zealand has been making strides towards becoming more aware of the casino gambling industry. One of the facets of that awareness is recognizing and treating problem gambling.

The Minitry's public health unit has completed a study on problem gambling. One of the major things they found, was that problem gambling was heavily influenced by location.

The proximity of people in relation to casinos had a big effect on whether a person became a problem gambler or not. The closer a person lived to a casino, the more likely that they had gambled in the casino.

The study was done based on a survey back in 2002-03. The survey had over 12,000 respond, which gave the health unit more than enough people to make an informed opinion.

"These findings suggest that policies aimed at preventing and minimising gambling related harm could focus on environmental modifications which increase people's distance to gambling venues," said the report.

In order to help fix this problem, Councils could be more inclined to put distance between new casinos that are being built. The Christchurch City Council has already taken steps to help the problem gambling. They have placed a moratorium on new poker machines in the city.

June 4, 2008
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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