Nevada's suicide rate has been 65 to 85 percent higher than the national average for the last several years, according to the state Department of Human Resources. Nevada's rate in 2003 was 18.5 persons per 100,000 population compared to the national rate of 11 per 100,000 in 2002. A study in 2003 reported that 6.2 percent of the population has problems with excessive gambling.
This taken from an article in today's Las Vegas Sun. The article informs us that the state senate has approved a total of $270,000 to help fund various programs to combat the problems.
Nothing in the article implies a connection between the higher than average excessive gambling problem, and the higher than average suicide problem but looking at those figures sure makes me wonder?
Hopefully some of the $100,000 approved will get to my friend Carol O'hare's organization, the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling. I have a personal affection for that group of wonderful people as they were the ones that were there for me on that horrible morning that I placed my last bet.
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