Gambling addiction is rising and lives are being ruined
Two stories in the Reno Gazette-Journal, one from 1996 archives, the other from this month, sound the alarm about gambling addiction. First, the June 14, 2002 story:

An estimated 80 percent of adolescents gamble in some form, and those with more problems also report increased use of alcohol and drugs, researchers and addiction specialists said [in Dallas] Friday during the 16th Annual National Conference on Problem Gambling.

Teens’ prevalence rate of pathological gambling runs two to four times that of adults, Korn said in an interview. About 5 percent have severe gambling problems and 15 percent have moderate ones, he said.

And from 1996:

Experts estimate up to 7 percent of the nation’s adult population (and perhaps double that for young adults) are either at risk or already suffering from severe problems with gambling.

And in Nevada — where gambling has been legal the longest — the addiction rate could be the highest anywhere.

Unlike 15 other states, no scientifically tested survey has been conducted in the Silver State, where gambling was legalized 65 years ago. But studies have shown that where legal gambling has been available longer, the rate of gambling addiction has been higher.

Authorities also say that for every gambler suffering severe financial hemorrhages, eight others are adversely affected — particularly family members and employers.

In Reno, the ravages of compulsive gambling can be felt in the one out of five divorces that one local judge says are caused by a gambling habit gone out of control, in bankruptcies and embezzlements, in jail sentences and, possibly, suicides.