Use gambling money to reduce damage done
By Jeffrey Kent, Times Colonist
What often gets lost in the discussions surrounding the allotment of gambling proceeds is the dubious means by which these funds are procured. We are not talking about a tax that is collected on fuel or luxury cars or short-term hotel stays.
Rather, we are looking to split the proceeds of a poisoned pie from an activity in our community that concerns its citizens.
Gambling and all its intangible and dark accompaniments leave a black bootprint on our communities and the discussion of allotting the proceeds should begin and end at the neighbourhoods in which they are collected. Groups that provide addiction and health services, victims' services and family counselling, as well as a community advisory board to promote accountability within the gambling industry should be priorities.
As an addicted gambler myself, who stole and gambled away millions of dollars, I can attest to the direct misery my actions caused and the wilful complicity of the casinos and racetracks that profited from my misadventures. Real people were devastated by my misconduct and the community is left footing the bill of my prosecution and long-term incarceration.
My victims were left in the lurch first by me, and then re-victimized by an underfunded system that left them without a voice.
Why not ask them what to do with the money?
Jeffrey Kent
Inmate William Head Institution
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