Gambling addiction costs to rise

Administrators in South Carolina said that if they legalise casinos to increase revenue, gambling addiction programs would need to expand.

US.- South Carolina has been trying to push for the legalisation of the casino industry in the state. Whilst a poll from Whinthrop Poll establishes that sixty-eight percent of South Carolina residents are in favor of allowing a limited number of gambling facilities to open in the state, administrators are concerned that they would need to increase gambling addiction programs if the industry gets legalised.

Officials voiced their concern because the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services would need to expand in order to cover all the necessities. According to The Post and Courier, Virginia Ervin, the state’s Gambling Services Coordinator, said: “I am sure we would need more because of an increased capacity of people coming through the door.” In 2016 he department funded the treatments with the unclaimed prize money from the local Lottery Commission.

Chief of staff for the department Lee Dutton, said that they haven’t measured how much it would the programs would increase if the state approves slot machines and table games in casinos. He believes that they need to study how the industry impacted other states in the past.