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Question: Would you rather than service members gamble on military facilities or at the local casino/bar? I'm not talking about harm reduction per se, ie reduc

Question: Would you rather than service members gamble on military facilities or at the local casino/bar? I'm not talking about harm reduction per se, ie reducing gambling. I mean would you rather have soldiers gambling/drinking in the controlled environment of a base or out on the town? I've been in situations/deployments where the CO has closed the base, restricted our movements off base to operational only. It really isn't much fun. So I am hesitant to criticize any on-base activity that at least some people enjoy responsibly.

Pigalowda 4y ago
I think they should gamble at the local casino (because there aren’t a lot of those locally forcing service members to have intermittent gambling habits rather than continuous exposure). The ready availability of having it on base at the NEX or whatever creates an easily accessible temptation. For destructive isolating behaviors like gambling I believe there should be no accessibility to it on base and definitely not DoD sponsored.
vkou 4y ago
> Question: Would you rather than service members gamble on military facilities or at the local casino/bar? 1. The argument that soldiers are going to do drugs anyways isn't a good reason to provide a weekly cocaine ration. 2. I don't think all of these bases have a nearby casino. 3. Lowering the activation energy for going to the slots will increase use of the slots. If I had a magic tap that soda and beer came out of at my house, I'd be drinking more soda and beer. Despite having a corner store on the other side of the street. The military should be lowering the activation energy for less destructive past-times, instead.
- sandworm101 4y ago
  >> 1. The argument that soldiers are going to do drugs anyways isn't a good reason to provide a weekly cocaine ration. That happened in Canada. When Canada made pot legal, their military went through a debate about whether it should be sold on bases. They already provide alcohol on bases, even on ships. Why not pot? But I have not heard of any slot machines on Canadian bases.

Pigalowda 4y ago

I think they should gamble at the local casino (because there aren’t a lot of those locally forcing service members to have intermittent gambling habits rather than continuous exposure). The ready availability of having it on base at the NEX or whatever creates an easily accessible temptation. For destructive isolating behaviors like gambling I believe there should be no accessibility to it on base and definitely not DoD sponsored.

vkou 4y ago

> Question: Would you rather than service members gamble on military facilities or at the local casino/bar? 1. The argument that soldiers are going to do drugs anyways isn't a good reason to provide a weekly cocaine ration. 2. I don't think all of these bases have a nearby casino. 3. Lowering the activation energy for going to the slots will increase use of the slots. If I had a magic tap that soda and beer came out of at my house, I'd be drinking more soda and beer. Despite having a corner store on the other side of the street. The military should be lowering the activation energy for less destructive past-times, instead.

sandworm101 4y ago
>> 1. The argument that soldiers are going to do drugs anyways isn't a good reason to provide a weekly cocaine ration. That happened in Canada. When Canada made pot legal, their military went through a debate about whether it should be sold on bases. They already provide alcohol on bases, even on ships. Why not pot? But I have not heard of any slot machines on Canadian bases.