Do you feel lucky? Do you? Almost everyone’s gambled at some point in his life, laying down money on everything from lottery tickets to Vegas poker tables. The thrill of chasing that elusive jackpot has turned gambling into a multi-billion-dollar industry, but there’s a personal risk that comes with every wager. With nearly 500 casinos currently open for business in the U.S. has legalized gambling gone too far?
Addiction rates double within 50 miles of a casino. Probable pathological gambling in Nevada in 2000 measured 3.5%. Other states ranged from 2.1% in North Dakota in 2000 to 4.9% in Mississippi in 1996. A casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90% increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. Neighborhood disadvantage increases that risk another 69%. Slots and other gambling machines push susceptible players to the pathological level in an average of 1.08 years, vs. 3.58 years with more “conventional” forms of table and racetrack gambling.
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