Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Nobody has studied gambling and its effects more closely than Professor Mark Griffiths, who has written 170 research papers and two books on the subject. He has also served as an adviser to three Government departments, aconsultantto the Gaming Board and a leading member of two charities dealing with the fallout from gambling addiction. In short, he is a man who knows what he is talking about. You might think, therefore, that the Government would have paid attention to Prof Griffiths's advice when he warned two years ago that 10p-in-the-slot fruit machines, with payouts of up to £5, posed a serious threat to vulnerable children. But no. Ministers had already begun their mystifying love affair with the big-time betting industry. So when they drew up their new Gambling Act, they chose simply to ignore the professor, classing low-stake fruit machines in the same child-friendly category as amusement arcade games such as toy cranes and 'penny falls' machines. Now Prof Griffiths has accumulated yet more alarming evidence that for many children, fruit machines are the first step on the road to delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, poor school performance and theft. Don't we have more than enough social problems in this country already, without actively courting more? At this 11th hour, the Government still has the chance to listen to Prof Griffiths and restrict fruit machines to adults. But the omens are not good. Remember how every professional body most closely concerned with the fallout from alcohol abuse - police, magistrates, judges and doctors - warned against the dangers of round-the-clock drinking?

The Government's response? It simply ignored all advice and pressed ahead with 24-hour pub and club licences. Today the consequences can be seen throughout the land in the early hours of any Saturday or Sunday - on the streets, in our casualty departments and police cells.

Why do Ministers ask for advice, when they block their ears to any they don't wish to hear?

If Prof Griffiths is right, the Gambling Act as it stands will expose many tens of thousands of British children to lives of misery and degradation.