i hope you continue to be well, however anecdotal evidence says that there’s people who have smoked all their lives and never had cancer. It still remains the responsibility of government to legislate against the problem becoming unmanageable to the large number who aren’t as fortunate not to suffer.
I enjoy the odd tenner here and there. My father in law regularly backs at £200 a weekend. I Don’t believe that banning gambling is what the government should do, however practices such as depositing money into accounts where people can clearly be seen to have problems needs to be addressed , after all the bookies aren’t slow off the mark when they realise someone is consistently performing better to their detriment.
the sheer volume of gambling advertising just now is incredible and needs to be curtailed, the ludicrous virtual roulette/slot machines in bookies shops need to be legislated against further and if we’re looking at something which is potentially affecting as much as 1% of the U.K. then it categorically needs to have its sphere of influence reduced imo.
I'm not really sure I understand your first paragraph. Addiction in any shape or form is tough. Continued freedom or abstinence really doesn't happen by luck nor accident. It requires a huge commitment, focus and a renewal on an almost daily basis.
Forced abstinence doesn't work. Prisons and rehabilitation centres / treatment centres have ridiculously low success rates regardless of how they are measured.
No matter how well intentioned these ideas are, it is impossible to legislate an individual out of addiction whether it's gambling, bulimia, self-harm, credit cards, booze or gambling.
Controversially, (but nonetheless true), significant pain and negative personal consequences (the "rock bottom" theory) remains the quickest way to recovery. Banning "Ladbrokes" on a replica shirt will make absolutely no difference to problem gamblers and the recent regulation regarding FOBT machines has simply driven problem gamblers on-line.
Tragically, addicts are wired differently. That's why 12 step organisations tend to be one of the more successful treatments. Addicts understand addicts.
What might seem like a common sense solution to a non-addict will almost certainly be doomed to failure. History is littered with these failures.
Edit: An excellent book on the subject is The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham.
I've helped scores of people with their addictions. The only reason I share this is that I really would prefer that good-hearted, well-intended people were better versed in the nature of addiction. There is wisdom in the old cliche regarding the paving of the road to hell.