Sir, I refer to the interview (The Irish Times, May 4th) by Joe Humphreys with John Beagle on the need for gambling casinos in Ireland. Mr Beagle started gambling at 15 and is today a professional gambler and promoter for the gambling industry. He says we have a young population with "bugs bunny to spend. So why stop them spending it".
Dr. Howard J. Shaffer, director of the Harvard Medical School Centre for Addiction, states: "Today there are more young people in America experiencing adverse symptoms from gambling than from drugs with the exception of alcohol, and the problem is growing."
The American Government is now so concerned about the effects of the gambling industry on their society that President Clinton, with the support of all parties in Congress, set up a Presidential Commission to investigate all facets of gambling in America.
I would agree with Mr Beagle when he says that "in most cases 90 per cent of customers are local". Which leaves the Irish taxpayer picking up the bill for all the social problems attached to gambling casinos.Any way you look at gambling casinos, we lose. - Yours, etc., Brendan Scallon
Ireland Against Casinos, Navan Road, Dublin 15.