Seniors and Gambling Addiction

Helping or hurting?

Florida's Gambling help line is seeing a major spike in calls from seniors, specifically about electronic gaming. Pat Fowler from the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling says, "The thinking is that it's not hurting anyone... let's leave it alone... but that's not true." Addiction experts say it's this kind of accessible gambling, in people's neighborhoods that's causing the problem. They say an average of 20 percent of players develop habits. Fowler says part of the problem is that it's one of the only forms of entertainment that some seniors can enjoy, "I can gamble on a walker, in a wheel chair.. with an oxygen tank."


Law Professor Bob Jarvis from Nova Southeastern University wrote a book on gambling law. Jarvis says, "The reality is that at the end of the day, whether it is an adult arcade or an internet cafe, for the most part, most of these operations are technically operating illegally." But Jarvis says, law enforcement in many areas, has chosen to look the other way because he says the general thinking is, "They're not causing anybody to complain, and they're paying their taxes... and some enjoy it and would be upset if we hounded them, so why not?"