Letter: Slots continue to destroy lives

The intention is to specifically increase an individual's gambling behavior. I am even more bewildered that few people have questioned the destructiveness of these behavioral technological developments as actually being one of the primary causal factors that serves as a catalyst in the addiction of problem gambling.

In fairness to Mr. Adams, he is only providing in creative ways what casinos are demanding, machines that will squeeze out more money from their loyal customers, not realizing the total consequences of what he is doing.

With the rapid sophisticated advances of slot manufacturer's technology, casinos' rampant misleading advertising practices (with their "free" offerings), and having no real effective authority to answer to, the probability of an epidemic in problem gambling increases daily. Thus more families ruined and more lives taken.

Our society, in allowing this to continue, reinforces the casinos' "zeal" to experiment even more in strengthening the controlling interactive relationship between slot machines and their users.

Thus, in our complacency, we may be more at fault in this dilemma than the profit-motivated attitude of some casino CEOs who continually preach "responsible gaming" while enacting opposite negative gambling practices.

EDWARD M. ATCHISON

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