Kathy Barrett is mad – furious, in fact – and she absolutely wants everyone to know exactly why. It is because her family has been devastated by casino gambling.
Note: The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious
Liberty Commission has selected gambling as its September focus. The
following article addresses the growing impact of gambling in the
United States.
Kathy Barrett is mad – furious, in fact – and she
absolutely wants everyone to know exactly why. It is because her family
has been devastated by casino gambling.
Her son Jason, a casino employee, was convicted of
embezzlement. He began stealing from the casino to fund his own
gambling and to share his ill-gotten gains with others. “He was acting
like Robin Hood,” Barrett says, stealing from the casino and giving the
money to struggling friends and family members.
His wife was found guilty of knowing about the
embezzlement and also is serving time. Barrett’s young grandsons are
living with their other grandmother while both parents are imprisoned.
Barrett’s mother is in her seventies but is another
casualty of the casinos. She was living modestly on her retirement
income in a condominium on which nothing more was owed. Then, she began
visiting the nearby casinos and is now working full time to pay off the
Chapter 13 bankruptcy judgment that result from her gambling addiction.
Barrett’s most heart-wrenching story is of her
brother David, a licensed counselor with a master’s degree in social
work. He had manned gambling and suicide hotlines and counseled people
with addictions.
Unfortunately, David’s own life began unraveling
when he started gambling. In spite of having himself banned from one
casino, he found his way to another, where the losing continued.
He ended his addiction – and his life – while
sitting on his father’s grave with a shotgun in his mouth. His suicide
note expressed his hopelessness: “If you knew the panic, despair and
shame I wake up with every day, you would not want me to live like
this. I know it seems cowardly. I’m sorry. If there were another
way to disappear, I would. Believe me, there is nothing any of you
could have done to stop it.”
He also wrote that he wanted his wife to find someone free of addiction.
“The whole thing began with a small slot machine win during a vacation, …” his widow explains.
“That win hooked him. … (The casinos’) rewards
club offerings would get him to go up there just to receive the little
incentive gift or whatever. But then, he would end up gambling –
sometimes thousands of dollars in a night. … Eventually, he came to a
point where he absolutely hated the casinos, but he couldn’t stop
himself anymore.”
Unfortunately, this family is not the only one devastated by gambling, as many in Louisiana can attest.
However, help is available.
The National Council on Problem Gambling exists to
increase public awareness of pathological gambling, ensure the
widespread availability of treatment for problem gamblers and their
families, and to encourage research and programs for prevention and
education.
The National Council on Problem Gambling also offers counseling around the clock at (800) 522-4700.
And Kathy Barrett has advice for anyone who is a
problem gambler or cares about one who is – “Run as fast as you can to
get help.”
Listen to her – she knows.
(Kathy Barrett’s story was compiled from accounts by
Baptist Press and the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.
For resources and information related to problem gambling, call the
Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission at
800-475-9127 or visit www.erlc.com.)