If you’re at the roulette table in Nova Scotia, the person next to you may well be a gambling addict who has put himself on a voluntary exclusion list. Although there is a Nova Scotia law requiring the two casinos to identify and bar problem gamblers, according to lawyer Dick Murtha, it isn’t nearly enough. Over three years, Paul Burrell, a Cape Breton coal miner, lost $500,000 (Canadian) playing slots in the Nova Scotia casinos, without anyone so much as blinking an eye. This is because the law itself is too weak. The law doesn’t include fines for casinos who don’t comply, and hasn’t succeeded in forcing casinos to exclude suspected problem gamblers
Clearly, with laws which only protect the lawmakers, Burrell isn’t the only punter with a problem who hasn’t been barred from the roulette and craps tables. Murtha is filing a class-action suit to force the province to pass stronger legislation. The province has launched a campaign to provide help for problem gamblers, with significant success. With an effort that included radio advertisements urging gamblers to call the government’s anti-gambling hotline, calls increased 54% for the first half of 2005, compared to the first half of 2004.
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