01/07/2015

Public awareness is more than just addiction awareness

So I thought I'd write a post about how an aspect of this campaign (or maybe an aspect of me) is crying out that we look at things in a deeper context. What i mean is.... how addiction not only affects an individual , but how that in turn affects the wider community.

So people should have self-discipline. Yes I agree. But... what about all the people that have been working behind the scenes all these years putting safeguards in place in an attempt to put a cap on the affects of things that have a chance of manifesting into addiction or destruction.
Maybe it's time we gave people a little help.

So for anyone here who throws the uneducated view that I am trying to ban gambling, this really isn't what the campaign is about.
My question is, whatever happened to pride? What happened to our high streets?
Will I be one of the last generation of people to witness genuinely local business's operating in a town center. Yes we still have a few market stalls , but our high streets are gone, we'v lost them to the hands of giant corporations.

So there are quite a few gambling-awareness campaigners such as myself talking now, and many are warning the public about the dreaded FOBT machines in the betting shops. (Roulette machines)
What concerns me greatly and has really hit a nerve with me is why we the public are sitting back and letting this happen. Crime and poverty is being created en-mass with these machines and the industry knows they are highly addictive and highly profitable.

But what about the people that don't choose to gamble? Such as kids, mothers, relatives, employers , clients ect that all can and do get affected by the current rise in gambling culture, that lets not forget is an agenda being driven by certain mp's and lobbyists involved with the industry to some degree.

Are we relying on governments too much to create our way of life? Are we getting put into little boxes?

The bottom line is, I am campaigning because I know how chronic this addiction can be and how 'secretly popular' it's becoming. These are not scare tactics, i have no reason to scare you. This is from the heart.
I am doing this because I think it's completely disgusting that carers are robbing old people, business's are getting ruined, people are killing themselves and the worse thing for me, is having these hubs in our town centers that harbor so many destructive stories that so many people are in denial of.

Yes denial. I'v tried to be polite for six years now but I have to be honest. It frustrates me to hear so many talk of the picture so black and white, as if addiction is such an easy thing to avoid. Despite billions of pounds being spent on what is now quite advance scientific advertising, according to many it is still the sole responsibility of the person that harbors the addiction.
It's easy to pity someone else when it isn't you.

But I can argue for hours with people. And despite the fact the gambling act has led to a what a call a devolution of our society and quite a harmful one at that , nah this is still something many see as no problem.
Some of these problems affect people for a very long time, and when you multiply this story millions of times throughout the world which is the reality then yes there is a problem. We have a virus.