Rising Quebec gambling deaths alarm critics

Officials in Quebec are dealing with a disturbingly high number of gambling-related suicides a number that critics say is only the tip of the iceberg.

One hundred deaths have officially been linked to compulsive gambling over a nine-year period, since the province began running casinos and video lottery terminals in 1993.

While critics say that number alone is unsettling, they believe the number of unreported deaths could be much higher.

Sol Boxenbaum, head of a counseling firm for Montreal gamblers, says the 100 deaths are only the known cases of suicide.

"The suicides that are accounted for by the coroner are only suicides where people have left a note or where a member of the family has confirmed there was a gambling problem," said Boxenbaum.

He believes several hundred more people have died from gambling-related deaths in the province and puts the number at 400 to 500.

There is help for gamblers, including a government funded telephone hotline and a program at the Montreal casino which bars well-known gambling addicts from entering, if they are signed up.

But Boxenbaum says the measures are not tough enough to be effective.

"We have clients that we're treating that are barred from the casino voluntarily and that have no problem getting back in anytime they choose to," said Boxenbaum.

He would like to see video lottery terminals removed from corner stores and bars, and gambling centralized at one location, such as the Montreal Casino. This way, says Boxenbaum, it would be easier to help compulsive gamblers control their addiction.