Having watched the usual nannying about the proposed super-casino and rash of other smaller ones about to get licensed in the UK, I didn't bother with this and I'm glad I didn't. This country's incapable of bringing in any change without an immediate rush to the bad news, pre-criticism, pre-judgment. You have alcoholics, and people who like a drink three times a year and teetotallers; you have people wrecking their lives through smoking far too much and others who will never smoke; you've got speed freaks who'll probably eventually blast their car into a tree and kill themselves and other drivers who won't exceed the speed limits, ever; you've got people who will make themselves grossly obese with all of the snacks and chocolates possible, and others who eat sparingly... jeez, like we need more nannying over gambling!
OF COURSE there will be people who'll overdo it, but to baldly assume it will turn its customers into addicts is as dumb as saying people issued credit cards will necessarily go mad and overspend into thousands of pounds' worth of debt they can never repay. But, equally, there will be thousands for whom the casinos and other forms of gambling will be a social occasion, and who won't ever become addicts.
I just wish we could get more of a grip on reality and perspective when gambling's mentioned.
