Governemt shouldn't be pushing gambling

You’ve probably seen the new TV ads our government-run lottery corporation has been airing in recent months.
You know the ones, where the grim-looking guy with the scary-sounding voice tells would-be high-rollers to step away from their game of choice before they burn through all the money they’ve set aside for groceries or diapers on scratch tickets or other would-be games of chance.
I don’t gamble myself. I’ve got enough bad habits. However, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an occasional game of bingo or buying a lotto ticket if that’s your thing.
But in the past few years I’ve noticed a real surge in government-endorsed gambling in this province, everything from scratch tickets in every variety under the sun, to electronic gambling machines in restaurants. I’ve also noticed a real surge in addiction to those games.
And I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Its new responsible gambling campaign is clear evidence the government has noticed as well.
Recently, the province distributed signs, posters and drink coasters to establishments where you find these machines. The coasters ask “Is gambling TEARING your life apart?” and the signs have slogans like “Know your limit, play within it.”
I think this campaign speaks volumes about how terribly aware the province is of how sickeningly efficient these games are at destroying the lives of the people addicted to them.
Over the years I’ve heard every kind of terrible tale about lives torn to pieces by gambling, from lost fortunes to broken homes to suicides.
I don’t think for a second it’s the fault of the players. These games, especially VLTs, are horribly addictive.
No, I think the suffering the addicts and their families go through is the fault of the government of a province that goes by the initials N.B.
And at first glance, how could you blame the province? These machines are basically a license to print money and everyone knows this province needs money badly.
But when you look deeper, it’s not hard to see there’s something really wrong going on. Look at the thousands of people whose lives have been ripped apart by them. You probably know a few yourselves.
Over the years, I’ve watched hardened VLT users, eyes glued to spinning wheels on flashing screens, sit like zombies for hours, moving only to press a button or stuff their tenth or twentieth twenty-dollar bill into machines that take in cash by the metric ton on behalf of this province, offering the occasional payout which is quickly stuffed right back in.
Some of the most addicted VLT players you could ever meet have told me the worst thing that can happen to anyone who sits in front of those machines for the first time is to win, cause that’s when they get you and when they get you, they’ve got you good.
I know we don’t have a lot of revenue-generators in New Brunswick, but there must be a better way to fill the province’s coffers than this.
I think it’s high time for the powers-that-be in good old N.B. to take a real hard look at the suffering these machines have wrought on the citizens of the Picture Province.
High time to find a better way to make money, instead of on the backs of people with a sickness the government itself helped to create.
Turning a blind eye to the damage these machines cause while raking in money from them hand over fist is for lack of a better word, sinful.
I think it is beyond immoral to let this continue.
Stop offering people luck on push-button screens. Perhaps consider offering them a bit of hope.