August 28, 2019
Time to press pause on gambling addiction
The Problem Gambling Foundation hopes more pubs and clubs will follow the lead of the Wainuiomata's Fitzroy Tavern, which will turn off its pokies for a day during Gambling Harm Awareness Week next week.
Foundation spokesperson Andree Froud says most outlets only pause their pokies for an hour during the week.
She says it's the most harmful form of gambling, with more than half of those seeking help or treatment being addicted to the machines.
They are also five times more prevalent in the poorer suburbs, where they compound other social ills.
"People won't always use pokies to try to win money. Often it's a form of escaping from something going on in their lives. Gamblers have explained it to me as getting into a zone, so once they get in that zone they become unaware of how much time they've been there, how much money they've spent," Ms Froud says.
She says the machines are designed to be addictive.
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