PelhamToday recieved the following letter to the editor on the topic of gambling in pro sports from reader Tom Airth.
Last year I contacted Homewood in Guelph, an addiction facility, and asked what percentage of your clients are there for gambling addiction.
I did not want names or gender or ethnic origin, simply a comparison between the various addictions they treat. I was advised they couldn't release that information.
I know that the percentage was high from conversations I had with an alcoholic friend I used to drive back and forth.
In light of Raptor player Jontay Porter's lifetime ban from the NBA bringing the problem of gambling to the forefront, it may be the time to question that, if the addictions to alcohol and tobacco are enough to discourage professional sports from taking their money for advertising, why should they embrace gambling?
Gretzky (the Great One), McDavid and countless other athletes are adding to their wealth by endorsing an addictive problem.
Entire sports programs (Overdrive) are devoted to gambling sites and give odds on anything the sports addict may care to wager on.
It may be time to address the fact that Jontay Porter isn't the biggest problem. Greed and a willingness to ignore the potential increase in a mind-numbing addiction are!
It would be interesting to see if Homewood and other addiction centres would say no to a media request that infringes on no one's privacy.
I’ll let you be the judge as to whether or not it's worth the risk in advertising revenue.
Tom Airth
Burlington
