BMA Problem Gambler Risk Survey

Published: Sunday, January 14, 2007 Online-Casinos.com

B.M.A. STUDY SAYS TEENAGERS AND WOMEN ARE MAIN PROBLEM GAMBLER RISK

"The nation's health is in danger," say anti-gambling doctors

The weekend press has seen several typically anti-gambling articles in the UK press, which in common with global mainstream media seems to delight in focusing on individual negative fraud and addiction stories among the millions of bets that are placed around the world every day.

In one such story, The Independent highlights a forthcoming but unspecified survey which the British Medical Association is apparently about to release (no details of sample size are quoted)

Using the headline "Why doctors say the new casino culture is bad for you" the newspaper claims that the supercasino, round-the-clock online games and loan sharks are feeding an addiction that is hard to cure. "A health timebomb is ticking, and women are most at risk," it subheads the piece quite dramatically.

"Almost by stealth, the UK has been gripped by gambling fever. Mobile phone betting, spread betting and internet gambling mean there are more opportunities to gamble than ever before. And more addicts.

"The national lottery has done most to bring gaming out of litter-filled betting shops full of disappointed men, while the internet allows people to gamble 24-hours a day. Over the past 10 years remote betting, via the internet, mobile phones and interactive TV has made gambling quicker and easier. The number of visitors to gambling websites in the UK has doubled in the past two years, and quadrupled since 1999.

"To this already potent mix is added Britain's first Las Vegas-style super-casino, location to be announced at the end of the month along with a string of smaller venues which will boost the coffers of an industry already worth an estimated £40bn. The new Gambling Act will tighten restrictions on gaming, but will also allow casinos to advertise on television for the first time, while casino visitors will no longer need to apply 24 hours in advance."

Having set the scene, the newspaper goes on to quote unidentified doctors as saying that the nation's health is in danger, and reveals that this week the British Medical Association (BMA) will say that "...teenagers and women in particular are at high risk of becoming gaming addicts and that urgent action is needed. Experts from its board of science are also expected to say that health officials are not doing enough to ensure treatment is in place ahead of a radical overhaul of this country's gambling laws this autumn."

Without sourcing the data, the authors of the article write that there are around 300 000 known problem gamblers in the UK, although figures have not been updated since 1999. Charities say the numbers are likely to be far greater now.

In theory, doctors can refer addicts to treatment services. In reality, the BMA says that gambling addiction is a low priority within the NHS and that the voluntary sector is often left to provide support for an illness that can devastate families, financially and emotionally.

The newspaper highlights the threat that determined underage gamblers pose for online casino operators.

"Teenagers are particularly vulnerable," the authors claim. "Research carried out by children's charity NCH found that it was easy for children to register and gamble online. Some three-quarters of 12- to 15-year-olds have played slot machines, five per cent showing signs of gambling addiction."

Officials have told the IoS, however, that there is not much they can do to curb the popularity of online betting because many sites are registered outside the UK.

The gender element of gambling is examined in the article, too. One expected impact of the new UK gaming laws is that more women will turn to gambling. In what seems to be a reference mainly to land gambling, the article claims that men currently outnumber women three to one as problem gamblers.

But Professor Mark Griffiths, who co-authored the BMA report, said that he expected a leveling out between the sexes over the next two decades.

"The internet is a gender-neutral environment and there is scope to gamble on a wider number of things than before, such as the latest eviction from the Celebrity Big Brother house," he said. "Within two decades there will be no difference between the numbers of male and female problem gamblers; they will simply be gambling on different things."

Inevitably, the article then isolates a negative individual story on an addictive female gambler who ran up credit card and short term loan debt and is now in trouble and seeking assistance.

The Independent goes on to report that the British Government has pledged GBP 3 million a year to pay for research, education and treatment of problem gamblers. "But charities that say this is not enough are already bracing themselves for an increase in addicts, it says. "Gamcare, which dealt with 40 000 calls for help last year, is forging links with drug and alcohol addiction charities across Britain, to train counsellors ahead of the relaxing of the laws in September."

Gamcare is also embarking on an Internet venture that will probably be close to the hearts of responsible online gambling companies who sincerely want to make a difference - a one-to-one counselling service.

The article examines plans by the Gambling Commission, and assurances by the Department of Health that NHS treatment will be available for problem gamblers.

Ministers will in the summer publish new figures on gambling addiction and prevalence checks are to be carried out every three years by the Gambling Commission. Gambling laws will be made more restrictive if there is any rise in problem gambling.

The Department of Health assures the newspaper that anyone with a gambling problem who seeks help from the NHS will be offered support and, if necessary, treatment to help them overcome their addiction, but the opposing view from critics is that the NHS does not even have the expertise to deal with the existing number of gambling addicts let alone new ones.

Alan Meale MP, who sat on the committee that looked at the laws before they were passed, said, "Addiction isn't like flu. It doesn't just go away, and you can't take a pill to beat it. It will take money and time to train NHS staff to deal with it," he said.

Professor Griffiths, an academic at Nottingham Trent University says it will be virtually impossible for the Government to put all the infrastructure in place in time to deal with the new laws and warned that civil servants at the new Gambling Commission, which will oversee new casinos, were "struggling".

"There is only so much work it can do," he said. "You currently have different parts of gambling, such as lottery tickets and spread betting, dealt with by up to three government departments."

The article concludes with some emotive comments from "winners and losers" and an estimate that there are more than 2 000 betting websites. "Worldwide revenue from online gambling is expected to double over the next five years to more than $20 billion (GBP 10.2 billion).

Other statistics quoted are that Brit bookies enjoyed increases in turnover of as much as 200 percent between 2002 and 2005; last year's World Cup was the biggest betting event in sporting history, with British bookmakers taking GBP1 billion in bets, and more than 70 percent of adults play the UK lottery on a regular basis.

There are already 123 casinos registered in the UK. The industry has offered GBP 5 billion as "planning gain" cash to local councils in exchange for new license applications.

GBP40 billion: estimated value of the United Kingdom's betting industry

300 000: approximate number of gambling addicts

26 000 or more retail outlets selling lottery tickets and scratchcards

75 percent of children aged 12 to 15 have played slot machines

40 000: calls made to gambling helplines last year

GBP 50 000: annual cost of one therapist to help gambling addicts