Provincial governments looking for revenue from state-run online gambling sites may have to think twice after a recent report warned of its addictive nature.
University of Calgary professor David Hodgins studied the effects of online gambling and found it could dramatically increase gambling addiction in Canada.
“Online gambling is a new format ... an accessible format. The concern is when it becomes promoted that it will be drawing new people into gambling. So you will have people who have never gambled, who have never walked into a casino, getting involved.”
Hodgins says there is a correlation between how accessible a province makes gambling, and having higher rates of addiction. He cites provinces that allow Video Lottery Terminals in bars and lounges as experiencing higher rates of addiction than those that only allow the machines in casinos.
“Accessibility of gambling is one of the factors that influences the number of people who get [addicted],” he says. “Online gambling—you can’t get more accessible than that.”
Hodgins is also concerned that government-run programs normalize gambling and introduce it to people who may not otherwise be attracted to it.
“Now that some of our provincial governments are getting involved, it’s going to be more promoted,” he says.
Currently B.C. and Quebec have government online gaming programs in place, with Ontario set to launch its program by 2012. But Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island have all rejected proposals to adopt online gambling due to fears of the social consequences linked to gambling addictions.
In Hodgins’ study, problem gamblers were found to be highly susceptible to other addictions such as drug and alcohol abuse. They were also more likely to suffer from mental illnesses such as personality disorders, anxiety, or depression.
Hodgins says a worrying trend is that adolescents and young people showed the highest rates of addiction, due in part to online gaming becoming more normalized throughout their short life spans. For older gamblers it wasn’t available when they were young, he explains, and these barriers helped curb addiction.
And accessibility may be an even bigger factor as mobile phone gambling apps give users access to gambling anytime, anywhere.
Though most provinces have treatment programs in place for problem gambling, Hodgins warns they might be inadequate if faced with a potential epidemic of gambling addiction.
“We really have to be monitoring carefully,” he says.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health lists the negative effects of problem gambling to include money problems, emotional problems and isolation, physical and mental health problems, burnout, impact on children, and/or physical and emotional abuse.
Excessive stress, anxiety, and depression are also common for out-of-control gamblers, which is linked to difficulty sleeping, thinking, and solving problems. Rates of suicide are significantly higher for people who gamble excessively, and for their family members.
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