Beacon Hill is no better than the article below that criticizes South Dakota for short-changing Gambling Addiction treatment programs.
Already inadequate funding in Massachusetts was slashed earlier this year until those waving the banner of Expanded Gambling recognized the flaw of their support. After all, how can you pretend to adequately fund Gambling Addiction when gambling is expanded when you can't fulfill your previous false promises?
House Speaker Robert "Racino" DeLeo proclaims that current legislation will increase funding for Gambling Addiction to
5 TIMES ITS CURRENT LEVEL!
WOW!
Ever the Gambling Industry Shill, DeLeo neglects to disclose we're talking
$5 MILLION
Using the Gambling Industry's own figures, the Beacon Hill Casino KoolAid consumers would provide only about $16 per Gambling Addict.
Have another glass!
[Governor Patrick tosses 308,580 under the Casino Bus]
Problem gamblers shortchanged
If South Dakota isn't embarrassed, it should be.
In 2007, legal gambling generated more than $92 billion in revenue nationwide.
In South Dakota, the lottery raked in nearly $5.9 million in revenue; tribal casinos more than $97 million, and non-Indian, commercial casinos more than $98 million.
That same year, according to the Association of Problem Gambling Services Administration, South Dakota spent only $244,000 to treat and prevent gambling addictions.
With an estimated 20,399 people in South Dakota struggling with gambling problems, that amounted to less than $12 per person to help them.
All but two states, Utah and Hawaii, have legalized gambling. and most of them do far more to help problem gamblers.
In 2007, only eight states spent less than South Dakota, whose numbers were the lowest among all of its neighboring states.
Colorado and Louisiana were at the bottom, spending nothing on gambling treatment and prevention in 2007.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that the South Dakota Council on Problem Gambling, set up in 1993 to find ways to help people with gambling problems, is primarily comprised of people with close ties to the gaming and liquor industries.
They should be represented on the council, but not as a majority voice.
Critics say gaming authorities have little interest in treating problem gamblers when those are the very people who generate most of their income.
Obviously people who develop gambling addictions are a small minority of the population. And eliminating gambling casinos won't solve their problems.
It's a matter of social responsibility, however, for those who offer gaming to help those who can't handle it, just as the liquor industry spends money on alcohol awareness.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, only one percent of gamblers become addicted, while another two to three percent develop problems. But experts on gaming addictions are seeing an alarming rise in gambling among teens and young adults.
Between 2001 and 2005, their rate of gambling skyrocketed by by 600 percent.
Young people are particularly drawn to internet gaming, though the spread of legalized gambling also helped fuel the rise.
As the number of young gamblers rises, so do the numbers of young gambling addicts.
South Dakota's gaming industry should be doing more to address the issue with better education about gambling addiction and more funding for treatment.
Problem gamblers shortchanged
If South Dakota isn't embarrassed, it should be.
In 2007, legal gambling generated more than $92 billion in revenue nationwide.
In South Dakota, the lottery raked in nearly $5.9 million in revenue; tribal casinos more than $97 million, and non-Indian, commercial casinos more than $98 million.
That same year, according to the Association of Problem Gambling Services Administration, South Dakota spent only $244,000 to treat and prevent gambling addictions.
With an estimated 20,399 people in South Dakota struggling with gambling problems, that amounted to less than $12 per person to help them.
All but two states, Utah and Hawaii, have legalized gambling. and most of them do far more to help problem gamblers.
In 2007, only eight states spent less than South Dakota, whose numbers were the lowest among all of its neighboring states.
Colorado and Louisiana were at the bottom, spending nothing on gambling treatment and prevention in 2007.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that the South Dakota Council on Problem Gambling, set up in 1993 to find ways to help people with gambling problems, is primarily comprised of people with close ties to the gaming and liquor industries.
They should be represented on the council, but not as a majority voice.
Critics say gaming authorities have little interest in treating problem gamblers when those are the very people who generate most of their income.
Obviously people who develop gambling addictions are a small minority of the population. And eliminating gambling casinos won't solve their problems.
It's a matter of social responsibility, however, for those who offer gaming to help those who can't handle it, just as the liquor industry spends money on alcohol awareness.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, only one percent of gamblers become addicted, while another two to three percent develop problems. But experts on gaming addictions are seeing an alarming rise in gambling among teens and young adults.
Between 2001 and 2005, their rate of gambling skyrocketed by by 600 percent.
Young people are particularly drawn to internet gaming, though the spread of legalized gambling also helped fuel the rise.
As the number of young gamblers rises, so do the numbers of young gambling addicts.
South Dakota's gaming industry should be doing more to address the issue with better education about gambling addiction and more funding for treatment.
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