Because of my addiction, government lost about $250,000 on me
Are you a compulsive gambler? I would never have known I was one if a casino had not opened 15 minutes from where I live. I’d previously gone to the occasional Bingo game, but that was the extent of my gambling.
In my late 40′s, a casino opened up in Niagara Falls– not far from where I lived. I went with a friend and $20– not all that excited about the whole deal. Fast forward to about a half year later, and I was hooked! I was a full-fledged compulsive, addicted gambler for the first time in my life. I spent the next 12 years in hell at different casinos as they opened up close by.
I am in recovery now at the age of 60. I think not of just the hell of being an active compulsive gambler, but also of the hell I put my family through by lying, cheating, suicide attempts, loss of money, sleepless nights, and all the other chaos that a compulsive gambler causes.
I have recently begun to think of the money it costs individuals I have affected– people who don’t even know me. I had a good paying job, and I cashed and burned and went into a major depression– perhaps not all due to gambling, but I believe the gambling had much to do with it. I couldn’t work anymore. I am on insurance coverage from that job and on disability from my government. Before I gambled, my husband and I spent about $4,000 a year on vacations, I shopped for clothes, we went out for dinner, we bought furniture and other things for our home. In other words, we put money into the economy. That all stopped as my gambling progressed. I barely bought enough food to feed us. I tried to commit suicide three times– three ambulances and 8 days in hospitals all told. I went to 4 re-hab centers. ( I know one cost $5,000 for a three week stay.) I see a psychiatrist once a month for help. All of these were paid for by insurance and/or the government. We were forced into bankruptcy, as we could no longer pat our creditors.
If I were to add up the total cost for the 12 years that I gambled and what it cost the government, insurance company, my community, and the bankruptcy, it would total about $769,200. I gambled away in those 12 years about $168,000. This means there is a great difference between what the government made from me at the casino and what it has cost them to deal with the addiction they enabled me to have. It appears to me that the government lost about $250,000 on me.
Am I an isolated case? I don’t think so! In fact, I know so! I know personally of many such cases. The stories may differ a little, and the dollar amounts may be different, but I don’t think gambling ever makes a profit for anyone but the casino owners and/ or operators in the long run! It makes no economic sense to society!
By Birgit C. ( A recovering compulsive gambler)