Pathological gambling

gambling companies and now allow longer opening hours for betting shops and for the shops to look more attractive, advertising of football pools, and a lower age Iiinit at which people can play the pools. 10This combination of measures has been associated with a reported increase of 17% in calls to Gamblers Anonymous. 17T'he sheer scale of expenditure on the National Lottery- over k 1 00m a week, of which over L40m is spent on scratch cards-gives it the potential to be a major force for good or evil.There is an urgent need for detailed research on its redistributive effects and its iinpact on family expenditure.Anything that makes poor people in Britain even poorer.,especially if they do not derive benefits in kind, becomes an important public health issue.