Gambling addiction may increase in Massachusetts, it is warned

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by Change | 11 May 2010

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An organisation has warned that demand for gambling addiction support may increase in Massachusetts.

Demand for gambling addiction help may increase in Massachusetts if legalized gambling becomes more available in the state.

This is the warning of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, which believes that gambling addiction intervention will become more prevalent if two casinos and up to 750 slots are installed at the state's four racetracks, The Boston Globe reports.

Last week, the council organised the Massachusetts Conference on Gambling Disorders, which discussed the consequences of more gambling facilities becoming available.

Kathleen Scanlan, the council's executive director, said the proposals are "unbelievably ironic", as funding for the facilities would be provided at the same time that funding for gambling addiction support is cut.

Also speaking at the event was Ryan Martin, a researcher at the Cambridge Health Alliance's division on addictions, who explained that between two and three per cent of the US population suffer from a gambling addiction.

"The most important time to make services available to this population is at the beginning, when the casinos open," the newspapers quoted him as saying.

It is estimated that approximately two million adults in the country meet the criteria for a pathological gambler, many of whom suffer from depressive symptoms.

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