Vermont Toughest On Lottery Addicts

Most states have some sort of state lottery that they use to bring in revenue for various things – usually education or cutting property taxes. However, with something like the lottery, it can be found everywhere and therefore the rate of people addicted to the lottery is much higher than for slot machines and table games. Gambling hotlines admit that the majority of calls that they get are usually from those that are addicted to their state’s lottery.

With so many of the states trying to come up with plans to assist those that truly need it – while not sacrificing any of the additional income that comes from the games – Vermont is right up on top with dealing with it effectively.

Under the Responsible Gaming Guidelines that the state came up with in 1998, Vermont puts a full ten percent of all advertising for the lottery for the gambling help line set up by the state. They also print the help line number on all of the tickets and lottery literature and increased funding this year to the Council on Problem Gambling.

They also do not advertise during Problem Gambling Awareness Week instead donating that money to the help line. They also make sure not to use characters or celebrities that kids might identify with so that children are not drawn to the game.

They basically let people know that it exists, but that they expect them to play responsibly instead of pushing those to play who may not be able to afford it, or may have a gambling problem. Experts agree that no state other than Vermont has made as much of an effort to keep those playing that do it for fun, or can afford to – and not those that may have some sort of gambling problem.

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