Chucking A Seven

‘MORE shock news reaches us from the pages of the Enquirer – and that is that not everyone who visits Las Vegas has a rollicking good time there.

Is this the reason for Vegas’ high suicide rate?

Indeed, many people lose money on the gaming tables and in the slot machines of America’s Sin City, in some cases more money than they can afford.

The hit NBC show Las Vegas may portray the city as a fun, glitzy destination where the beautiful people gamble and party at all hours of the day and night.

But the series does not show the city’s darker side, according to the Enquirer, which reveals that behind the neon lights Vegas is actually the suicide capital of the US.

Since 1998, more than 90 people have killed themselves on casino property alone, including three who jumped from the tallest building in town, the Stratosphere hotel/casino.

Many victims suffer from financial, marital or medical problems, ‘while others are simply desperate over losses at the gaming tables’.

‘It’s a place where we paint our hopes, dreams, fears and apprehensions,’ explains Hal Rothman, professor of history at the University of Nevada.

‘It’s the city of excess, and what could be more of an excess than killing yourself?’

Next week, the Enquirer uncovers Dallas’s shocking secret – there is more to the city than scheming oil barons and their alcoholic wives.’

Posted: 2nd, March 2004 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink