Smokers don t pawn their possessions, steal, embezzle and commit insurance fraud to buy their next pack. Researchers have yet to establish a link between smoking and suicide or spousal abuse. Like cancer merchants, casinos know that their future lies in hooking the young. The gambling industry is equally audacious. Kids came home singing the casino s theme song.
Experts decry the trend toward creating family-oriented entertainment complexes around casinos.
Parents feel less guilty about dragging the kids there, and future customers are seduced at a tender age. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission has been meeting for a year, investigating the social and economic effects of gambling in the United States. And at least one observer of the nine-member panel s meetings is convinced that the gaming industry has done a poor job of dealing with the issue of problem gambling. I think we re getting our clock cleaned on the compulsive issue, the source said. I think the industry is very complacent on this.