We need to remember these people in our prayers!
I can only imagine what they have lived through!
Praying they turn to God instead to relieve their stress!

Lord hear our prayers!

Valerie


"Fair Use for Information & Discussion Purposes"


Tamara McLean, AAP New Zealand Correspondent
May 6, 2011 - 12:04PM


AAP


Residents of quake-devastated Christchurch have turned to gambling,
drugs and heavy drinking in the wake of the disaster that felled their
picturesque town centre and killed 181 people.


New figures show that use of pokie machines has tripled and drugs,
alcohol consumption has skyrocketed since the 6.3-magnitude earthquake
hit New Zealand's second biggest city on February 22.


This is despite the closure of a quarter of the city's pokie venues, as
well as bars along with the exodus of 10,000 residents after the killer
quake.


The surge in gambling, drugs and drinking is worrying New Zealand's
Problem Gambling Foundation, whose spokesman Tony Milne said venues had
been "incredibly busy".


"Right from the start of the day to the end of the day, they were pretty
much full," he said of 15 suburban pubs.


"People are gambling as a relief for all the stresses, or as a means of
escaping. People are also desperate for money and are trying to increase
what little money they have. But if you play the pokie machines you are
going to lose, they design them that way," he said.


The concerning trend matches with other figures showing unemployment,
problem drinking, rates of depression, violence and drug use have all
spiked in Christchurch since the disaster.


Tourism is down 30 per cent, rents on limited business space have
increased and home values in many suburbs have dropped dramatically.


Figures from Statistics New Zealand this week confirmed that thousands
of residents fled the city in the month after the quake, with many
displaced families relocating to Australia.


In a speech to the city on Thursday, NZ's revenue minister, Peter Dunne,
said the dire gambling and drinking statistics were "no surprise".


"I am not at all surprised that gambling on non-casino gaming machines
in Christchurch has increased significantly since the quake, in much the
same way that drinking issues seem to have risen, and even smoking
cessation stalled," The Press reported Mr Dunne as saying.


"We are dealing with a lot of stressed people, and human nature can
often take us to our weaknesses and frailties at times of extraordinary
pressure and strain," he said.


The city's Salvation Army spokesman Peter Jamieson also confirmed the
problem and said there was a real concern as to how agencies will cope
with the "splurge".


The New Zealand government has pledged to spend $NZ8.5 billion ($A6.33
billion) on rebuilding and supporting Christchurch through its recovery
from the quake, the country's biggest natural disaster in 80 years.

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