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Another social cost of compulsive gambling is
the expense of more police to deal with
organized crime. Illegal gambling and the
offshoot of loan sharking, high jacking,
employee theft, etc. are caused by desperate
gamblers. The correctional system in New Jersey
holds 25,000 inmates. Studies prove that 10%-
20% may be compulsive gamblers. At $18,000-
$25,000 to house one (1) inmate per year, the
cost is staggering to taxpayers.
The cost of compulsive gambling on employers,
insurance companies, police, judiciary and
corrections is staggering but nowhere measurable
to the cost of the disintegration of the family.
Compulsive gamblers cause havoc and pain to all
family members. The spouses and other family
members also go through progressive
deterioration in their own lives. In the
desperate phase dysfunctional families are left
with a legacy of anger, resentment, isolation
and many times hate. Compulsive gambling kills
families. The result is without treatment, the
good life we want for our families is not
possible.
Co-regulation
Co-regulation of the gaming industry would
involve self-regulation with an added element of
government
ratification of standards developed by the
industry. The Fair Trading Act 1987 provides for
the
prescribing of codes of practice, which are
enforceable before the Commercial Tribunal.
Before a code of
practice can be prescribed, there must be
agreement amongst representatives of those to be
bound by
the code under the provisions of section 42(5)
of the Fair Trading Act 1987. Because the gaming
industry has no clear peak industry association,
the scope of any code of practice is likely to
be
significantly limited. The large number of
short-term participants in community gaming
would make this
an area where co-regulation was likely to be
ineffective.
Registration
Registration is a means of combating the
information asymmetry that favours the gaming
operator over
the consumer.
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