05.14.09
PokieAct.org Encourages Poker Addicts to Support One Another Online
The new “Pokies Cause Pain” campaign is encouraging people that live with a pokie addiction (poker machine) to share their tales online with the hope of preventing others that maybe destined for similar paths.
The campaign was initiated by Australian senator Nick Xenophon and was launched on “Responsible Gambling Awareness Week.” Senator Xenophon told the Australian AP that families had been victimized long enough as a result of pokie addiction and added “It’s an opportunity for people to have that voice. They haven’t had it in the past.”
For anyone interested in making an anonymous contribution to the “Pokies Cause Pain” campaign, the website is up and running and can be found at: www.PokieAct.org.
Still, Australian Senator Nick Xenophon said that the government must find a better way to shift taxes collected from pokies to other areas and ultimately limit the influence of pokies; “There is no doubt that communities would be better off, budget bottom lines would be better off, if state governments didn’t rely so heavily on poker machine taxes,” Xenophon said.
