NHS hands gambling machine junkies drug given to heroin users
THE NHS is handing out a drug used to help alcoholics and heroin addicts to treat problem gamblers after the Government’s failure to crack down on highly addictive betting machines.
Doctors are prescribing medication costing £68 for three months – or £272 a year – to some of the worst addicts.
There are now more than 500,000 problem gamblers in the country.
Campaigners blame the Tories for failing to tackle problems associated with fixedodds betting terminals, which have been dubbed the ‘crack cocaine of gambling’.
Introduced in 2001 when Labour was in power and regulated by Tessa Jowell’s failed 2005 Gambling Act, they are based in bookies’ shops and allow users to bet up to £300 a minute on games such as roulette and blackjack.
The NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic in London is the first to offer gamblers naltrexone, which is usually used to
‘It helps stop craving’
help those addicted to alcohol or opiate drugs such as heroin.
Henrietta Bowden-Jones, from the clinic, said: ‘The medication is used to stop the most compulsive gamblers who are resistant to treatment. It helps stop craving.’
Last year GPs referred almost 1,000 problem gamblers to the clinic for help.
Naltrexone works by blocking the transmission of the brain’s pleasure chemical dopamine and acts against craving for alcohol. The clinic is testing it for similar effects on the urge to place bets.
Charities say ministers have allowed gambling firms huge influence in government despite evidence of a link between the machines and mental health problems, family breakdown and money laundering.
An investigation by The Times found Chancellor George Osborne’s family has made millions from the gambling industry.
The Daily Mail has campaigned against the negative influence of the terminals, revealing how profits have rocketed over the past year. Ladbrokes makes more than £1,000 a week per machine – up 9 per cent in just a year. Paddy Power and Coral have also seen profits rise.
Yesterday Matt Zarb-Cousin, of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said: ‘The huge potential prizes per spin and rapid gameplay draw gamblers in but the high stakes can encourage players to chase their losses, snaring them in a trap that can lead to debt, family breakdown and crime.’
Figures from GamCare, a charity that offers counselling, showed half of the 40,000 callers it helped last year were suffering financial difficulty or relationship breakdown, while almost one in ten said their health has suffered. The number of calls from those addicted to betting machines has jumped more than 50 per cent in five years.
The Association of British Bookmakers said it was unaware of any evidence that problem gambling has increased. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: ‘We introduced stronger gambling controls last April.’
NHS Central and North West London, which runs the National Problem Gambling Clinic, said it had treated five patients with naltrexone since it began trialling the drug in November. ‘This is a valid treatment,’ a spokesman said.