Friday, November 10, 2006

Nobody has studied gambling and its effects more closely than Professor Mark
Griffiths, who has written 170 research papers and two books on the subject.
He has also served as an adviser to three Government departments,
aconsultantto the Gaming Board and a leading member of two charities dealing
with the fallout from gambling addiction. In short, he is a man who knows
what he is talking about. You might think, therefore, that the Government
would have paid attention to Prof Griffiths's advice when he warned two
years ago that 10p-in-the-slot fruit machines, with payouts of up to £5,
posed a serious threat to vulnerable children.
But no. Ministers had already begun their mystifying love affair with the
big-time betting industry. So when they drew up their new Gambling Act, they
chose simply to ignore the professor, classing low-stake fruit machines in
the same child-friendly category as amusement arcade games such as toy
cranes and 'penny falls' machines. Now Prof Griffiths has accumulated yet
more alarming evidence that for many children, fruit machines are the first
step on the road to delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, poor
school performance and theft. Don't we have more than enough social problems
in this country already, without actively courting more? At this 11th hour,
the Government still has the chance to listen to Prof Griffiths and restrict
fruit machines to adults. But the omens are not good. Remember how every
professional body most closely concerned with the fallout from alcohol
abuse - police, magistrates, judges and doctors - warned against the dangers
of round-the-clock drinking?

The Government's response? It simply ignored all advice and pressed ahead
with 24-hour pub and club licences. Today the consequences can be seen
throughout the land in the early hours of any Saturday or Sunday - on the
streets, in our casualty departments and police cells.

Why do Ministers ask for advice, when they block their ears to any they
don't wish to hear?

If Prof Griffiths is right, the Gambling Act as it stands will expose many
tens of thousands of British children to lives of misery and degradation.