Catholic Charity Counselor Calls for Online Gambling Regulation
A counselor for ACCORD, a Catholic organization in Ireland designed to give support and care to marriage and wedded couples, says unregulated online gambling is among the major problems he deals with. John Farrelly, who is the group's director of counseling services, thinks a lack of regulation is causing a growth in problem gambling, which leads to marital difficulties.
Farrelly listed overuse of the Internet, infidelity, and uncontrolled Internet gaming as the three largest areas of consternation for the counseling service. He indicated regulation of online gaming would help keep compulsive gambling from tearing apart marriages.
Financial pressures are offered by a growing number of couples as the reason for marriage problems. The recession has contributed greatly to this, but Farrelly says he sees the damage done by online casinos operating without oversight.
He says that, while people may think they always have a grip on their gaming impulses, "the reality in the counseling room is of a marriage scourged by addiction, mistrust and major financial loss."
The need to recognize and treat problem gambling is one of the myriad reasons Barney Frank authored his bill proposing online gambling regulations. Without such regulation, compulsive gamblers have only the casinos themselves to protect them, an uncertain choice.
