Anything that is used as an escape becomes self destructive at the long long run, talking about the fact that you said it fills their time, do you think it has anything to do with joblessness? Because I think if someone has a job and is fully occupied he wouldn't think of trying to use gambling as a way to escape reality, he'd be preoccupied by his activities aand not having time to gamble. Gambling was made for the purpose of entertainment and not a distraction, I wish a lot of people can realize this it would save them from a whole lot of problems.
Maybe if they can use gambling with right because if they are joblessness but they are often playing gambling, they can addicted to gambling easily and that can make them bankrupt anytime. They can lose control themselves in gambling because the temptation in gambling will be bigger without they notice. So when they can stop gambling anytime without hesitate and willing to use their time to search for the other positive thing, they will not addicted to gambling because they know that gambling is for entertainment and no need to playing gambling too often.