Australia worries gambling is hurting the nation's youth

Three fourths of all Australians have a problem with gambling. Although the country only has 22 million people -- fewer than the entire state of Texas -- Aussies spend nearly $12 billion a year on poker machines alone.

And that has the Australian government worried about its next generation.

"Many Australians enjoy an occasional flutter," says a government website.

"However for some, gambling can be highly destructive – ruining lives and destroying families. As a community, we have a duty of care to make gambling on poker machines safer and protect people whose gambling is out of control. As a result, several members of Australia's parliament are asking that all gambling advertising be banned during hours that children are viewing TV, according to the Australian daily newspaper.

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