SASK - “Addiction: The dark side of gaming”
more at http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10153
Author: French, Janet
Source: Regina Leader Post
Published Date: May 05, 2007
Description:
In Saskatchewan, a 2002 government report says an estimated 1.2 per cent of the province’s population, or between 5,600 to 13,200 adults, are problem gamblers. The telephone survey, performed in 2001 and analysed in the report, “Gambling and Problem Gambling in Saskatchewan,” says another 4.7 per cent of the province, or as many as 42,400 people, are “moderate risk” gamblers, and another 9.3 per cent, or as many as 79,800 adults, are low-risk gamblers. Part of the problem, said Harley Dickinson, a professor and head of sociology at the University of Saskatchewan, is gamblers have a poor understanding of how VLTs and slot machines are programmed to keep players hooked. Dickinson said the government could adopt a better balance between the revenue it gets from gaming and the amount it spends on problems. In 2005-06, the province raked in $69.4 million from casinos alone. $4 million of that money, or less than six per cent, went to treatment and prevention of compulsive gambling, according to the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.
