There are aparently many people who claim that their gambling habit is so bad that they can't possibly stop on their own. And even worse, they claim it is not their fault, that they are somehow chemically difficient in a way that keeps them addicted. Now, while I believe that certain people are more predisposed to some types of behavior than others, I don't believe that anyone has truly lost their freedom to choose whether or not they gamble.
Let's say for a moment that someone was chemically difficient, to the point where they truly cannot stop themselves from gambling. Why go to work? Isn't it easier to commit crimes to get more money faster and for free rather than going to work? Why don't they just mug the first guy they see? If you look at a person who actually is chemically altered to where they can't control themselves anymore, such as a person who is very high on certain illegal narcotics, they truly act like maniacs. Many police officers around the country can attest to that. They made the active choice to take the drugs in the first place, which then took away their freedom to make choices while they were high. And while they are high they don't care about anything else, which then makes them very dangerous as they tend to hurt anyone around them to get more drugs. This is why they are arrested in such a state and why narcotics are illegal.
So if some people can truly be chemically altered by gambling, then shouldn't it be illegal too? And shouldn't these people be locked up long enough to go through the gambling withdrawal symptoms, just like a druggie? I mean, really, if they're really chemically altered then they could just mug someone or kill someone so they could have more money to gamble. But, we don't do that, which I am glad for. The reason? These people aren't really chemically altered so they can't stop gambling. It is simply a lack of personal control. They do not have the personal fortitude to decide to stop. They get a rush from it just like a junkie does from drugs, or a runner gets from adrenaline, or some other regular person gets from eating a certain food.
Let's not take every instance of people who don't want to change their lives bad enough to do so, and turn it into a clinically diagnosed disease and then try to come up with a medicine to fix it. Let's encourage personal responsability to both the gamblers, the casinos, and the institution that lends money to gamblers. Let's not just throw taxpayers' money at research and an attempt for a "cure" when really all we're doing is making Joe Taxpayer pay for people's gambling habits. This is a land of freedoms, and personal choices, and (less and less) personal responsability. Let's take some and quit passing the buck.
