Illinois General Assembly, video gaming, and Time magazine


I’m changing direction this week. Although I plan more posts on healthcare nationalized, this week I’m going to cover the State of Illinois and its new push to increase revenue by allowing gambling/video gaming throughout the State.

I had intended to end my series on video gaming on Saturday the 19th. However, I have more to say and it seems apparent that healthcare nationalized will not occur this week and may not occur this year—nor should it.

My new plans are as follows: I’m going to end the series on video gaming on the 30th of September. I’ve found more information about gambling at http://www.stoppredatorygambling.org/ and http://www.freedomplayers.org/. Tonight I’m posting five of the many posts from http://www.stoppredatorygambling.org/ and then plan on concluding (for now) on Wednesday morning. I plan to do my regular feature on “global warming” for, at least, the normal two days. I also have a new monthly feature I’m going to start and then, hopefully, back to healthcare nationalized for a few more posts. As you know though, I have been known to change things as I proceed.

I’m concluding my series on gambling/video gaming tonight, with selected quotes from Time magazine. Most of the material presented so far are from sources that are opposed to gambling/video gaming. Time magazine certainly does not fall into that category. Therefore, the material from Time magazine can not realistically be categorized as biased.

Selected material from Time magazine dated August 1, 2005, pages 53-54 with the headline “For millions, the thrill of the bet is as addictive as any drug. Scientists are beginning to figure out why—and what can be done to help” by Jeffrey Kluger:

“Two hundred forty-seven Native American casinos dot tribal lands in 22 states; 84 riverboat or dockside casinos ply the waters or sit at berth in six states. And with local governments struggling to close budget gaps, slots and lotteries are booming. All told, 48 states have some form of legalized gambling—and none of that includes the wild frontier of the Internet. By 1996 the annual take for the U.S. gambling industry was over $47 billion, more than that from movies, music, cruise ships, spectator sports and live entertainment combined. In 2003 the figure jumped to over $72 billion.” (And that $72 billion [$72,000,000,000] is nothing more than a transfer of money from losers to winners. And no, it’s not done for entertainment purposes. One can play poker, play video gaming, gamble and be entertained without the transfer of money. The transfer of money is the evil, sinful part of the process because it is based upon coveting others’ money and greed. And when the State of Illinois or any other State promotes and uses gambling as a means of raising revenue, they are promoting and supporting coveting and greed—the something for nothing mentality; the quick and easy score; the Ponzi scheme of governments. They become just as much the gangster as any criminal who supports and promotes illegal gambling. They become Gangster Governments!—my addition)

All that money is coming from someone’s pockets, and it’s not the winners’. (All gambling has winners and losers and usually many more losers than winners!—my addition) According to Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, as many as 10 million U.S. adults meet the “problem gambling” criteria. Kids are hit even harder. Exact figures aren’t easy to come by, but various studies place the rate of problem gambling among underage players somewhere between two and three times the rate for adults.” (page 53)

“Defining compulsive gambling is like defining compulsive drinking: it’s not clear when you cross the line. But if there are enough signs that your behavior is starting to slip out of your control (see the self-test [see below at the conclusion of the post—my addition]), chances are that you have a problem. It’s a problem of special interest to researchers because it reveals a lot about addiction as a whole. One of the difficulties in understanding drug or alcohol abuse is that the minute you add a chemical to the body, you muddy the mental processes. ‘It’s hard to tease the connection out because you don’t know how much is the drug and how much is the behavior;’ says Whyte. ‘But gambling is a pure addiction.’ Repeating: “… GAMBLING is a PURE ADDICTION!” And this pure addiction is being supported and promoted by governments! Governments are deliberately getting their citizens ADDICTED to a moral evil for the purpose of raising revenue for the governments. How obscene!—my addition)

To see if that’s true, scientists turn to such advanced diagnostic tools as functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) machines to peer into the brains of gamblers while they play. In a 2001 study conducted at Harvard Medical School and elsewhere, researchers monitored subjects as they engaged in a wheel-of-fortune game. The investigators looked mainly at several areas of the brain known to be involved in processing dopamine, a pleasure-inducing chemical released during drug and alcohol use.

Sure enough, the same areas lighted up when test subjects gambled, becoming active not only when they won but also when they merely expected to win—precisely the pattern of anticipation and reward that drug and alcohol users show. ‘This put gambling on the map with other neurobiologic addictions,’ says Dr. Barry Kosofsky a pediatric neurologist at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.

Surprising support for that work came earlier this month when researchers at Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic reported that 11 Parkinson’s disease patients being treated with dopamine-enhancing medications began gambling compulsively; one patient eventually lost $100,000. Six of the 11 also began engaging in compulsive eating, drinking, spending or sex. Only when the dopamine was discontinued did the patients return to normal.

The dopamine cycle may not be the only thing that drives gamblers. Personality also plays a part. This month researchers in the U.S., Britain and New Zealand released the latest results from an ongoing, 30-year study of roughly 1,000 children born in the early 1970s. One purpose of the research was to determine which temperament types were most likely to lead to addictions.

The just released results showed that compulsive gamblers, drinkers and drug users have high underlying levels of negative emotionality, a syndrome that includes nervousness, anger and a tendency to worry and feel victimized. Significantly, they also score lower in the so-called constraint category, meaning they are given to impulsiveness and thrill seeking. That’s a bad combination, particularly when you throw drugs, drink or gambling into the mix. ‘It’s like picking your poison,’ says psychologist Avshalom Caspi of King’s College in London, one of the researchers in the study. (Notice that, as noted in earlier posts, the State law allows video gaming at establishments that serve alcohol by the glass. Thus TWO addictive behaviors are being combined! The result: a greater likelihood of increased addiction! Two poisons combined! SMART isn’t it!—my addition)

What makes people start gambling may also be a function of availability. (What greater availability is there than 45,000 video gaming machines scattered throughout Illinois in every establishment that serves alcohol by the glass? What a great law if the goal is to increase addictions! How much better could State planning be?—my addition) A 1999 study ordered by the U.S. Congress found that people who live within 50 miles of a casino have two times as much risk of developing a gambling problem as those living farther away. And the growing popularity of electronic gambling only makes things worse. (“ONLY MAKES THINGS WORSE!”—my addition) In one study, researchers at Brown University found that while gamblers take an average of 3½ years to develop a problem when they’re playing traditional games like cards, slot-machine players fast-forward their addiction (The “crack cocaine” of gambling!—my addition), getting hooked in just over a year.” (page 54)

More effective may be the 12 Step protocol used by Alcoholics Anonymous. (Even more effective—never start gambling in the first place. And yet, the State is now promoting MORE gambling and MORE addiction. As I said on my post dealing with law, there are people who will gamble because it is now legal who would not gamble if it remained illegal. That is a simple fact of human nature!—my addition) Gamblers Anonymous groups meet all across the country stressing abstinence and providing a community of ex-gamblers to offer support. Marlatt is worried that abstinence may be less effective with young gamblers and is exploring cognitive techniques that instead teach kids to recognize the triggers that get them to gamble too much. (Right! As if that will work!—my addition) The states may also have a role to play. (They do! It is to NOT legalize gambling and to NOT use it as a source of revenue!—my addition) Illinois has instituted a self-exclusion program in which gamblers can put their names on a voluntary blacklist, allowing casinos to eject them from the premises, require them to donate their winnings to a gambling-treatment program and, in some cases, charge them with trespassing. (Like shutting the barn door AFTER the horses have escaped!—my addition)

Like Marlatt’s moderation strategy, however, the Illinois program takes a measure of self-discipline that maybe the very thing compulsive gamblers lack. (TRUE!—my addition) ‘In addiction, they call it chasing the high,’ says psychologist Carlos DiClemente of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. ‘In gambling, it’s called chasing the big win. And that’s where self-regulation goes down the tubes.’ Better, say DiClemente and others, to simply to put down the cards or dice or cup of coins for good. (Best, never to pick them up in the first place!—my addition) As battle-scarred gamblers are fond of saying, the only way to be sure you come out ahead is to buy the casino.” (page 54)

Below is the self-test the article refers to above with a comment by me describing a result previously mentioned in earlier posts.

“DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions, it may be time to seek help

01) Has gambling made your home life unhappy? (Gambling ruins families—my addition)

02) Has gambling got in the way of your work or school? (Gambling becomes addictive—my addition)

03) Have you lost sleep thinking about gambling? (Gambling becomes addictive—my addition)

04) Have you gambled with income or savings while bills went unpaid? (Gambling ruins family and personal priorities—my addition)

05) Have you made unsuccessful attempts to quit gambling? (Gambling becomes addictive—my addition)

06) Have you borrowed to finance your gambling? (Gambling drives people into debt—my addition)

07) Have you considered breaking the law to pay for your gambling? (Gambling leads to crime—my addition)

08) Have you felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling? (Gambling leads to suicide—my addition)

09) Have you gambled to get money to meet your financial obligations? (Gambling ruins family and personal priorities—my addition)

10) Have you ever lied about your gambling? (Gambling ruins families—my addition)

11) When you’re angry or disappointed, do you turn to gambling to feel better?” (page 54) [Gambling becomes addictive—my addition]

Did your Representative vote to increase gambling in Illinois? Why? Did your Senator vote to increase gambling in Illinois? Why?