Casino Deval Part 6: Incremental Addiction

From a front-page story on today’s Boston Globe:

Studies estimate that at least 3 percent of US adults have a compulsion to gamble so severe that it can lead to obsession, lying, illegal acts, and failed relationships…4.4 percent of people living within 50 miles of a casino reported serious wagering problems in their lifetimes. That compared with 2.1 percent of those living 51 to 250 miles from a casino…

No worries, though. Deval’s plan has taken precautions against this already, as we read:

In an interview, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, the Massachusetts secretary of health and human services, said that as part of Patrick's proposal, casinos would have to post signs warning patrons about the addictive propensity of wagering and train employees to spot troubled gamblers and direct them to addiction treatment. The governor's plan also pledges a 2.5 percent cut of casino pretax revenues, an estimated $51 million a year, to pay for education campaigns and expand addiction treatment.

Would Massachusetts use employees of tobacco companies as recruiters for tobacco addiction programs?

Phew! I'm lucky that blogging is not habit-forming.