"I found that the machines were wonderful. I loved the excitement. I loved the people, I loved the camaraderie, the high fives when you win. It was just very exciting," Sandi Hall told Stahl.

Hall lives only a short drive from thousands of slot machines in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Married with two daughters, she worked in a bookstore, and used to look at the casinos as an entertaining break. But eventually she was playing slots so much, she burned through her retirement funds.

"My every thought and every being, if I wasn't at the casino, I was figuring out how I was going to get there, where was I going to get the money," she remembered.

When Stahl pointed out she sounds like a heroin addict, Hall said, "It takes your soul, it takes your humanity. You drive home, pounding the steering wheel, promising yourself you're never going to go again, you're never going to do it again. And you know that you're going down, and you're going down, and you're going down. I became from a nice person, I became a manipulative, deceitful, lying person."

Read or watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Gambling • Psychology • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

1. Terry Chapman wrote: Gambling addiction has been a well known fact for decades.  Why our culture has decided to ignore that and repeat past tragedies is a mystery.  Evil or ignorance or both? January 10, 8:44 am | [comment link]

2. Br. Michael wrote: Gambling is the tax raising wave of the future.  Opponents raise these issues of addiction and harm to society, only to loose the vote to those promoting gambling then they have the gall to raise our taxes to pay for efforts to staunch the harm. January 10, 9:00 am | [comment link]

3. Adam 12 wrote: I believe gambling also corrupts the political system with a ready supply of cash for politicians who advance the industry. January 10, 12:25 pm | [comment link]

4. KevinBabb wrote: In my area, virtually every criminal case of embezzlement from a job, or other organization to whose coffers the defendant had access, leads back to a casino, as does a substantial number of bankruptcy filings. January 10, 5:40 pm | [comment link]

Registered members must log in to comment.