A recent survey conducted by Beijing Normal University found that of the nation's 200 million lottery players, 7 million are addicts aged between 18 and 45, with a monthly income ranging from 1,500 yuan ($238) to 3,000 yuan. However, their dreams of attaining sudden riches as a way of raising their status in society can lead to criminal acts, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

Almost every lottery station has addicted gamblers concentrating on studying past lottery numbers, as if the next set of numbers will follow a pattern that only they are clever enough to perceive. With the game attracting more people and expanding to cover all social groups including officials, bosses, teachers, white-collars, rural workers and students, the payouts keep snowballing, from 400 million yuan, to 500 million, 700 million and up. Such astronomical figures carry the hopes of many.

Yet pursuing such hopes has led people astray. In one case, a vice manager of a bank in Xuanwei, Yunnan province embezzled 4.5 million yuan as he became addicted to the lottery; from spending several yuan a day he ended up spending 10,000 yuan a day. In another case, a man in Shenzhen gambled away 42 million yuan he borrowed from his relatives.

There are some people who just want to try their luck and they spend a little money on the lottery, but there are also those who believe their luck will definitely come in if they buy enough tickets, and so they spend increasingly large sums of money. Without a doubt, these latter are addicts.

So we need to ask why do so many people pin their hopes on lotteries. Whether it's due to pressure or part of the popular trend of pursuing quick money, we should first admit the negative aspects of lotteries. We should do our utmost to bring those who are addicted back to real life and change and improve the current lottery system.

(China Daily 04/05/2012 page9)