More Gambling is the Only Answer for Some Advocates
A few months ago, advocates for casino gambling in Massachusetts produced a glowing report showing how many billions of dollars the state would reap and how a new age of economic activity would burst forth in the Bay State. What was missing in the report was the human cost, the toll that gambling would take on the estimated 2 to 5 percent of people who become addicted to the lure of gambling.
A new comprehensive study detailed in The Enterprise this week showed that precious few dollars are spent on treating addiction. Massachusetts, which has gross gambling revenues of $4. 76 billion, spends just $654,942 on addiction treatment. Across the nation, legalized gambling is a $136 billion business, yet states spend less than $36 million on gambling addiction. Some states, like Rhode Island and New Hampshire, don't spend anything at all on treating addiction to gambling. All of this is worth keeping in mind when the next push comes in the Legislature to legalize casino gambling.
Ask why states spend $2. 5 billion a year to treat addictions to tobacco, alcohol and drugs and just 1/7 of one percent on gambling addictions. Maybe it is because cities, towns and stats also are addicted to gambling money, and spending too much on addiction treatment would be an admission that the whole system is a house of cards waiting to collapse.
June 3, 2006
Posted By Bob Hartman
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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