Slotted for Addiction?

The Globe has an article about video slots, which may pose a bigger addiction risk than other types of gambling. In these difficult economic times (unemployment at record highs, stocks at record lows) it's astonishing that anyone would waste money by feeding into a machine, but it's also feasible that people are desperate enough to view gambling as a way to finally get a break financially. If folks were to get addicted to slots, it's proposed that proceeds from their gambling could go to gambling treatment—irony of ironies. We've always thought that if losing money were really fun, there would be more people just throwing dollar bills out their windows—but that doesn't seem to be the case. It's a sticky situation: spend money to make money from people who maybe shouldn't be spending money... or let them spend that money in other states? It's a gamble, either way.