When it comes to addictions....

When it comes to addictions....
By Bill Brady, Special to QMI Agency

Gambling in its many forms takes a terrible toll on families. Here's the irony: A gambler wishes he or she had more money but that very addiction will eat up their financial resources faster than one could say "Dealer, hit me again."

Experts say the house usually comes out ahead.

I am no gambler. Like most, I have tried my hand at a few moments of madness, but once my $20 is gone, I am too. It's a fact that most addicted gamblers do not have the resources that make it OK to lose. They play cards, roll dice or play the slots to get badly needed money to replace their losses and maybe occasionally get ahead.

It seldom happens.

The dichotomy is the government wants us to be healthy, spending most of our taxes on facilities to care for us, including our mental health. Yet the government is a co-conspirator and enabler, promoting and supporting all kinds of gambling to gather in needed revenue so it can then pay to treat the many whose addictions have disabled them.