Chances are Slot Machine Addiction Increase

With the Chances Cowichan gaming centre opening soon, gambling addiction experts are trying to decide what sort of impact the slot machines are going to have on residents. They say they do not have any reason to expect wide spread addiction from the slot machines, but they don’t really know what the outcome will be. They don’t think the slot machines will destroy the community, but they do think that there will be some people who will have problems.

The provincial government is currently doing a study of slot machines and gambling, and the effect they have on four communities: Surrey, Langley, Langley Township, and Vancouver. Each of these communities now have slot machines and gaming venues, and they are trying to find out how the gambling addiction has increased, or will increase, over several years.

They have compiled some information already, but the slot machine study will not release their current findings until next spring. They did find that in both Langley and Langley Township that slot machine addiction did increase after Cascades opened. They link it to a nationwide gambling problem, as the UK has seen a drastic increase in slot machine and gambling addiction over the past year. There was a 45% increase in gambling calls to hotlines.

They also found that the number of people entering treatment centers for slot machine and gambling problems increased 25%. Many are upset with the amount of slot machines that have been allowed in the country – they say that the government and the casinos are cashing in at their residents’ expense. The slot machine and gambling casinos have brought in $515 million, with $457 million of that going to the government.

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