Back in 2005, a study in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry found provinces that have casinos and large numbers of video-lottery terminals (VLTs) per capita also had some of Canada’s highest rates of problem gambling. What reminded me of this issue was a very recent article by Samuel Tuck in Addiction News Now about the current situation in Australia. He notes that Australia, while it is home to less than half a percent of the world’s population, has 20 percent of the world’s VLTS — further noting that 80 percent of VLTs are located outside casinos. The result is a nation with the world’s worst average gambling losses: About $1,000 per adult each year. In addition, as with many gambling addicts, easy access to VLTs can fuel suicides, domestic violence, insolvencies, employment loss and financial crimes. Apparently, the VLTs, called “pokies” in Australia, are everywhere: in pubs, corner stores, restaurants, sports facilities, entertainment centers, etc. Of course, the gambling industry says that VLTs are legal, regulated and enjoyed responsibly by millions of Australians.
Of course, gambling is big business, and VLTs are no exception. As in Canada, thousands of Australian jobs depend on the gambling industry and it brings in billions of dollars to state governments and retailers. Samuel Tuck compares the power of the gambling industry in Australia to that of the gun lobby in the United States. As reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation last year, he notes that that the gambling industry had donated at least $60 million to the three major political parties over the past two decades. In Canada, provincial governments have gambled big on gaming and lotteries, collecting almost $14 billion in revenue each year. However, a 2016 poll by the AngusReid Institute found that one-in-four Canadians (26%) reported they were personally affected by problem gambling – either because they’re struggling with this addiction themselves – or because they have a close relationship with someone who is. Most say necessary help for this problem has not been forthcoming. Canadian studies have also found three to four percent of teenagers and adolescents in their early 20s have a serious gambling problem compared to 0.8 to two percent of the adult population.
To top it off, companies and businesses are going after the growing youth market. They are introducing a new class of machines, aimed at attracting younger players who grew up with more skill demanding video games. Adding an element of hand-eye coordination, however simple, is just one way slot makers are labouring to broaden the appeal of the insistently bleating devices that have proved so popular among older players. Besides new devices that provide an extra payoff for game-playing dexterity, manufacturers have developed communal games that link clusters of machines — which are proving popular with people under 40. Coming soon are VLTs with joysticks, which the industry expects to be particularly popular. Others machines will allow users to play in tandem or against one another, much as they do in many Internet games.
Although experts recognize gambling addiction, it is not usually treated as an illness in the same way as alcoholism and drug addiction. Limiting access to gambling sources, such as VLTs, is a first step. However, persons with addictions to gambling may be harder to detect as their symptoms are not so obvious. The costs of gambling addiction to society and families are great, often the result of employment and productivity losses and mental-physical impairment. The fact is we do poorly in providing support/counselling services for gambling addicts and their families.
FROLITICKS 
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