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Responsible Gambling: What it is and Why it matters

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Title: Responsible Gambling: What it is and Why it matters


1
Responsible Gambling What it is and Why it
matters
  • Presentation by Prof Peter Collins
  • University of Salford
  • Hong Kong
  • October 2009

2
Overview
  • Does Asia, in general, and Macao, in particular,
    need a Responsible Gambling Programme?
  • Responsible Gambling A contradiction in terms
    or an unnecessary excuse for paternalism?
  • Consumer choice and consumer protection, the core
    principles
  • Informed choice, the core concept
  • Three ideal types those with actual
    gambling-related problems those at risk because
    they currently gamble those who might gamble
  • Practical implications for Asia
  • Latest developments

3
Problem Gambling in Asia
  • Asian destinations are essentially tourist
    destinations so the problem gamblers go home and
    cease to be the local jurisdictions (Gentings,
    Macaos etc problem (cp Nevada). Hence not much
    interest in problem gambling
  • But Asian culture is more anti-gambling on
    ethical grounds than Western culture
  • However, where measured using Chinese SOGS Asian
    rates of problem gambling (4 of adults) are
    much higher than in the West (1-)
  • This is probably not due to any inherently
    greater predisposition to problem gambling
    amongst Asians, especially Chinese (Cp South
    African Indians)
  • It is more likely to be associated with levels of
    development (Cp South African Lottery players)
  • So Asia objectively needs a responsible gambling
    programme now and will come under increasing
    political pressure to develop one as legal
    gambling expands and as more and more
    jurisdictions world-wide develop such programmes
  • The threat is that licenses will be subject to
    draconian restrictions (cp Singapore and
    technology) and permits to come to Macao will be
    restricted

4
What is Responsible Gambling? A Contradiction
in terms?
  • A contradiction like responsible prostitution
    or responsible indulgence in any vice? For
    many people Yes because indulgence in vice is
    always irresponsible
  • No matter what constraints are placed by
    governments on suppliers and consumers of
    commercial gambling services some people will
    always think that, at best, this is only
    preferable to complete prohibition because
    prohibition is impracticable even though
    prohibition is what would be the most desirable
    state of affairs
  • The essential fact about gambling, and what makes
    it exceptionally difficult to develop and
    implement sensible public policy for, is that it
    is widely thought of as a vice i.e. an activity
    which typically many people enjoy a lot and many
    people (sometimes the same people) consider to be
    immoral.

5
What is Responsible Gambling? An Excuse for
Paternalism
  • Compare responsible gambling with responsible
    golfing or any other leisure activity not
    considered a vice like eating cakes
  • A minority over-indulge and do harm to themselves
    and their families
  • But thats not the governments business
  • And we dont think we need conferences on
    responsible golfing and cake-eating or national
    responsible golf and cake strategies

6
What is Responsible Gambling as far as Industry
and Governments are concerned?
  • In societies where gambling is legal, some people
    wish it werent because they think it immoral or
    dangerous or both others see no difference
    between gambling and any other form of
    entertainment which people may choose to spend
    time and money enjoying most think it should not
    be wholly forbidden to those who enjoy it but
    also that its not as harmless as playing golf or
    eating cake
  • Therefore we should have some but not too much
    legal, commercial gambling and what there is
    should be
  • - regulated responsibly
  • - supplied responsibly
  • - consumed responsibly
  • This makes responsible gambling a concept which
    cannot be precisely, scientifically or otherwise
    objectively defined because what is to be meant
    by it in any particular context is open to
    negotiation and will express a political
    compromise or consensus
  • Because of this what counts as responsible
    gambling at any particular time is always
    unstable and never pleases everyone
  • So the main function of responsible gambling
    policies, programmes and practices, from the
    point of view of government and industry, is to
    sustain the support of public opinion for current
    policies and enable them to rebut publicly voiced
    criticisms of current or proposed policies
  • Though political and commercial competitors will
    have different notions about what policies and
    practices should count as responsible reflecting
    their competing commercial and political
    interests (e.g. resort casinos and local vs
    national governments, established industry versus
    new entrants)

7
So What is Responsible Gambling? in Practice?
  • Responsible gambling can usefully be used to
    refer to any set of policies, programmes and/or
    practices which maximally reduces the likelihood
    that people will harm themselves or others by
    spending too much time or money gambling, while
    minimally inhibiting the ability of those who
    wish to gamble harmlessly from doing so
  • This means that implementing responsible gambling
    measures is a matter of promoting not only
    consumer protection but also consumer choice
    (Budd, Eadington, Forrest, new proposed internet
    legislation in USA, consumer surplus and more
    fun)

8
Relating the Two Principles
  • Sometimes the principle of consumer choice
    conflicts with the principle of consumer
    protection and compromises must be made
  • E.g. How much should we curtail the freedom on
    non-problem gamblers in the hope of protecting
    problem gamblers from themselves? (Issues of
    availability, limits on stakes and prizes,
    responsible gambling features etc)
  • The principle of proportionality and other
    principles of good regulation are needed here
    (compare speed limits)
  • But sometimes the promotion of consumer choice
    and consumer protection reinforce each other as
    when people are addicted or ignorant of what they
    are doing

9
Problem Gambling and Informed Choice
  • Gambling is problematic in the sense of
    requiring action by governments, by industry and
    or by treatment and prevention specialists when
  • - Either the gambler is addicted in the sense
    that he or she would like to stop or cut down but
    cant (for whatever reason)
  • - Or the gambler would cut down or stop gambling
    if they knew relevant facts about the gambling
    they are engaging in but which they do not know
  • In these cases the consumer is neither able to
    exercise free choice nor is adequately protected
    by government from exploitation and deception by
    suppliers
  • Conversely, gambling is unproblematic when
    players are exercising informed choice, i.e. are
    genuinely free to choose because not behaving
    compulsively, and know enough about what they are
    doing

10
So Who Needs Protection and Liberation? Three
Ideal Types
  • Those who currently gamble and create problems
    for themselves and others through gambling too
    much because they are addicted or ignorant of
    what they are doing
  • Those who currently gamble unproblematically but
    might develop problems in the future
  • Those who currently dont gamble but might in the
    future and who, if they do will need to be able
    to avoid gambling problematically

11
What Responsible Gambling Measures need to be in
place for the current problem gambler?
  • Information that there is such a thing as problem
    gambling (?50 of problem gamblers dont. Most
    GPs and PCTs dont)
  • Information that free, confidential and expert
    help is available
  • Information about how to access this easily and
    with minimum difficulty
  • Facilities for contacting a suitably sympathetic
    and knowledgeable counsellor preferably
    immediately, i.e. on impulse
  • Facilities for accessing further free,
    confidential and expert help with gambling
    problems in one-on-one sessions, in groups, by
    telephone or internet
  • Facilities for accessing such help with related
    matters such as
  • - comorbidities other psychological disorders
    such as substance abuse, depression or anxiety
    disorders
  • - employment issues
  • - debt and money management
  • - family and other personal relationships

12
What Responsible Gambling Measures need to be in
place for the current non-problem gambler?
  • Reinforcement of the message that gambling ought
    to be a form of entertainment for which you pay
    by accepting the House Advantage
  • Understanding how games work and generate House
    Advantage
  • Not being exposed to features of games or the
    environment which mislead about the chances of
    winning or otherwise undermine the ability to
    exercise rational control (e.g. play for play on
    internet, columns with past numbers at roulette,
    encouragement to get intoxicated etc)
  • Access to warning signs about the possible onset
    of problem gambling
  • Access to information about what to do if you
    think you have a problem

13
What Responsible Gambling Measures need to be in
place for the current non-gamblers?
  • Access to a general understanding that gambling
    can be dangerous
  • Access to information about what you can do to
    avoid getting into trouble if you do take up
    gambling (budgeting etc)
  • Access to information about how to identify and
    help someone else who is in trouble as a result
    of problem gambling

14
What else needs to be done? Educating
Professionals
  • Most obviously, the professionals likely to
    encounter people, some or most of whose problems
    derive from excessive or compulsive gambling,
    need to be informed - as part of their continuing
    professional development - about the nature of
    problem gambling, how to identify it and what to
    do about it
  • The group of professionals at present most
    scandalously lacking in this knowledge is the
    medical profession
  • But social workers, law enforcement personnel,
    ministers of religion, bank managers etc all need
    to understand this phenomenon

15
What else needs to be done? Developing an
extensive and trustworthy knowledge base
  • Everyone, everywhere laments the absence of
    knowledge about how best to prevent and treat
    problem gambling, mainly because of inadequate
    scientific understanding of the causes, character
    and consequences of this phenomenon
  • Hence need for growing the capacity for good
    research around the world, collating the efforts
    and findings of researchers and disseminating it
    to all interested parties
  • This requires centres of excellence in gambling
    studies which collaborate with each other to
    which scholars working on any aspect of gambling
    studies, nationally and internationally would be
    affiliated
  • This would mean that
  • - all interested parties, including public
    officials (ministers, civil servants,
    parliamentarians, regulators, local councillors
    and officers), industry managers, the media,
    treatment and prevention professionals, other
    professionals and the general public could make
    inquiries about any aspect of gambling studies
    and
  • - be confident of getting an answer, in
    user-friendly form, which reflected the honest
    views of the best researchers in the area relying
    on the best available evidence
  • The alternative is to leave the shaping of public
    opinion to those who are unscrupulous in their
    use of evidence to further ideological,
    political, commercial or self-glorificatory
    agendas

16
Some New Developments
  • Increasing investigation of the distinction
    between addicted and non-addicted problem
    gamblers
  • Increasing Recognition of need to address
    comorbidities in treatment
  • Emphasis on Consumer Protection rather than on
    Protecting the Vulnerable
  • Increasing understanding by industry and
    government of the link between profits (and
    therefore taxability), public opinion and
    credible responsible gambling strategies
  • Increasing awareness of the need for all
    concerned with responsible gambling to
    collaborate rather than compete

17
A Concluding Prediction
  • We have all over the world spent huge quantities
    of time and money over the past ten years trying
    to minimise the comparatively small amounts of
    harm caused when recreational gamblers for
    whatever reason lose control and to ensure that
    recreational gambling is strictly regulated so as
    to be crime-free, fair to players and protective
    of the vulnerable
  • Meanwhile through ideological naivety, political
    and commercial short-termism, incompetence and a
    culture of moral cynicism, we have deregulated
    the financial services industries so as to
    transform them into a giant global internet
    betting business which is neither crime-free,
    fair to players nor protective of the vulnerable
  • Some informal estimates (which merit proper
    research) suggest that at least half of all
    traders meet the criteria set out by the American
    Psychiatric Association for identifying probable
    pathological gamblers they are obsessed with
    their bets, they sacrifice their personal lives
    to their betting, they spend far too much time
    betting, they chase their losses, they lie about
    their gambling, they steal in order to sustain
    their habit, and when it goes wrong they
    contemplate suicide
  • This is where those concerned with responsible
    gambling will need to focus their energies and
    attention in the future
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