How Do You Define Addiction?

Forget about clinical terms.  An addiction or destructive compulsion is about doing something, or ingesting something that's causing problems in your life and continuing to do it in spite of those problems.And that's what happens to the compulsive gambler, not overnight, but gradually.

And the fact is, this doesn't happen to most people, just like most people don’t develop problems with alcohol, drugs, or the internet.  But the point is, for the people who it does happen to and those that love them, whether gambling is a disease or “maladaptive” behavior doesn’t really matter – it’s a problem that’s wreaking havoc in their lives.

You'll also no doubt notice that when we start describing the compulsive gambler, whether problem gambling is a disease or simply dysfunctional behavior, the people with the problem bear a striking resemblance to people who are addicted to a variety of other things.  And like all people who are a slave to an addiction or obsession, problem gamblers are usually in complete and total denial that gambling is the cause of all their negative outcomes in life.  The similarities continue from there. 

Some General Facts:

We're not big fans of statistics, but some of these numbers will give you a good perspective on gambling in North America, because the actual dynamics of who gambles and how they gamble is changing dramatically.  We're presenting data from both the U.S. and Canada because gambling trends in each country are very similar, and insight can be obtained from figures from both countries.

• Gambling is harder to detect than other addictions, so most problem gamblers run into BIG problems before seeking treatment.

• Women entering fellowships like Gambler's Anonymous are usually there because they got into trouble with gambling in the form of bingo and slots.

• There are now more than 80 permanent casinos in Canada, nearly 40,000 slot machines and an equivalent number of video lottery terminals.  On top of that, Canada also has 70 racetracks and over 20,000 organized bingo games per year.

• In the United States, forty-eight States now have some form of legalized gambling (Hawaii and Utah are the exceptions)   In 2002, the U.S. legal gaming revenue was estimated at $68.7 billion.  Three years prior to that study, another “Impact Study” determined that the annual cost to society of problem gambling was $5 billion.  So even after you subtract the “damage,” it’s still a profitable enterprise for government.

• The Illinois Lottery did a study to see who gambles, and found people who made less than ten thousand dollars a year gamble six times more often than those who earn over fifty thousand dollars a year.  And a report featured on the Discovery Channel stated that gambling is so attractive, when the “Powerball” lottery jackpot is high, 90% of eligible adults buy a ticket.

• Research has shown that almost 6 percent of teenagers are compulsive gamblers, and as many as 14.8 percent have some level of gambling problem.  Kathleen Scanlon, executive director of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, said children as young as 12 can have a gambling problem, even if they don't have much money.  And the numbers are rising.

• Experts estimate that every college in America has a student "bookie" who establishes a line for all sports betting and accepts bets.  According to several studies, the prevalence rate of addiction to gambling is two to four times higher for young people than for adults, and again, it's rising.

• An estimated 200 Canadian problem gamblers a year will commit suicide and for every suicide, five gamblers end up hospitalized with self-inflicted injuries, according to the Canadian Safety Council (CSC).  One study in Nova Scotia study found that problem gambling factored in about six per cent of suicides.

• In the province of Ontario in Canada, it's estimated that each problem gambler costs the system as much as $56,000 in health care, social or other related costs.  Only a tiny fraction of the billions made by the government on gambling is put back into the system for prevention, treatment and research.

• Right now, a real point of debate is whether medications that people are taking for Parkinson's Disease are causing them to become compulsive gamblers.  In our opinion, there seems to be rather compelling evidence that drugs like Mirapex (a dopamine agonist) stimulates a part of the brain responsible for compulsive behavior.  At the date of this writing, no manufacturer of drugs like Mirapex have acknowledged the connection.

Okay, so if gambling produces all these problems, why do we allow it to continue?  Well frankly, it's about the money.  In 2003, the Canadian Government raked in 11.8 billion dollars from lotteries, video lottery terminals (VLT’s) and government-run casinos.  Their profit was 6.5 billion dollars.  (That kind of profit margin is usually reserved for drug dealers.)  And if Canada's experience mirrors the experience of any other country that government regulates gambling, it's not just a cash cow, it's a herd of cash cows.

And Gambling Means Employment (or does it?)

More than 47,500 people are employed in Canada with jobs related to the gaming industry.  However, it’s estimated that between 600,000 and 1 million Canadians are grappling with problems related to gambling. If we add their close relations, (family members and other close social relationships) the number of people in Canada who are directly affected by gambling-related problems rises to 3 million.

So if we take a low estimate of problem gamblers  (600,000) and we assume that only 10% of those have lost their jobs due to their addiction, then we have a net loss of jobs in Canada due to gambling of 16,500.  So maybe gambling doesn’t mean employment, maybe what it means is “employment redistribution.” 

Is The "Help" Helping?

In 1999-2000, the provinces in Canada spent close to $28 million to develop services to help individuals in need. This represents an average annual expenditure of $1.20 for every Canadian adult.  However, average losses per Canadian due to gambling are assessed at close to $400 for 2001.  So is the help actually helping?

The Crack Cocaine Of Gambling: (Instant Win = Instant High)

Every type of gambling can be dangerous for someone who is vulnerable to having it turn into a compulsion or addiction, but video poker and slot machines have been referred to as the "crack cocaine, or methamphetamine of gambling."  Psychologists feel that this is because with these games, the interval between making the bet and seeing the outcome is the shortest.  These two types of gambling “vehicles” seem to be where the most people get into the most trouble the fastest. 

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