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Changes sought in slots rules Addiction officials see cases increasing and fear crime will increase as slots grow Friday December 26, 2003 By KATHY RUMLESKI, Free Press Sports Reporter Copyright
© The London (Ontario) Free Press 2003 The constant movement of hands being dipped into buckets, pulling out coins, slipping them into a machine and then pushing a button seems endless and mindless. Slot machine users seem to slip into a trance-like mode when they play. Studies show this in fact is the case, said Bonnie Orvidas of Addiction Services of Thames Valley. "People tell us . . . they don't know that it is possible for them to actually dissociate in front of a slot machine -- to move into a state where they have impaired judgment, lose track of time, forget about the meaning of money and really are in an altered state." Orvidas said her agency has had a 998 per cent increase in client load since the slots opened in London in 1999. Roger Horbay, a former addiction counsellor turned researcher, says the machines are designed to facilitate loss of control and unless the government changes things, there will be lawsuits galore and the possibility of criminal charges. "It's basically fraud by deception," he says. Horbay has sent letters to several government ministers warning them about these possibilities. The province is already dealing with lawsuits involving its slot parlours. Last month, Lisa Dickert of Woodstock settled a suit which held the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. accountable for not keeping her out of gaming establishments, including Woodstock Raceway slots. Terms of the settlement were kept confidential. In London, where the Western Fair slot parlour recently increased the number of machines to 750, Orvidas says there will be more addicts because of the expansion. She also warns there will be an increase in white-collar crime, bankruptcies and suicide attempts. Orvidas has recently completed a position paper on what impact the expansion will have on the community. "It's very clear that whenever you have increased availability and accessibility, there's going to be an increase in people who develop gambling problems." She pointed out that of her clients who gamble, they do so exclusively at Western Fair's slots. "Prior to the presence of slot machines in the community, our clients didn't have a problem with gambling at all. We're not anti-gambling here . . . but we do have some concerns." Orvidas said gambling is an extremely difficult addiction to overcome. "The relapse rate is very high." That's why her agency is asking the city for more money for preventative and educational programs aimed at helping people before they get addicted. Addiction Services of Thames Valley would like five per cent of the city's slot revenue to go toward these programs. "As much as this community is rejoicing in the revenue, we also have to take very seriously the fact there will be more people with problems and we need to be able to address that, but also to prevent it," she says. "Particularly now that the venue has expanded, there's going to be more money coming in." London Coun. Susan Eagle would like to see more funding from the province to help problem gamblers. "For the social problems it creates . . . there's very little revenue that comes to the city to give assistance to people who find themselves in trouble." The province allocates two per cent of the gross revenue from slots for treatment, prevention and research. Orvidas said the $36 million this fiscal year is more than any other province in the country, but she also points out Ontario spent $260.5 million on promotion and marketing of its gaming facilities. Young people are particularly drawn to advertising of slots with their flashy lights, noisy bells and visceral attraction, she said. And while you have to be 19 or older to enter a slot lounge, many are prepping for that day by playing scratch-and-win tickets and participating in other forms of gambling. "Kids see this sort of gambling that they do as biding their time until they get to the casinos." That's why she feels more money is needed to reach the young before they're old enough to play the slots. If that doesn't happen, it's hard to predict how widespread gambling addictions will be in the next generation. "At this point in time, gambling on a massive scale is so new, we don't really know where this is going." THE NUMBERS BEHIND GAMBLING
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