In Business Las Vegas, September 14th, 2007
Researchers are looking for established means to combat an addiction to gambling, while eschewing junk science.
Christine
Reilly is the executive director
of the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders. The institute is affiliated with Harvard Medical School.
She spoke during a luncheon for the National Center for Responsible Gaming at the Mirage Sept. 10.
She said the primary reason there isn't much research available on gambling addiction is because of the lack of funding. And as a result of a lack of empirical research, which can be peer-reviewed, chaos in diagnoses and treatment occurs.
"Junk science is dangerous," she said, of the loose approach to problem gambling. "We're committed to reversing this trend."
That's where the National Center for Responsible Gaming comes in. As an affiliated nonprofit of the American Gaming Association, it has raised $15 million since 1996, which it directs to researchers through grants. About 50 individuals and companies, including casinos, have contributed to the center.
The institute is advertising availability of grants for research on areas such as interventions for problem gambling, prevention and responsible gaming practices, gambling among vulnerable and special needs people, and social factors that affect gambling behavior.
"What really excites me is when research gets translated into a tool," said
Phil
Satre, chairman
of the center and former chairman and chief executive of Harrah's Entertainment.
Satre
and
Reilly
were two of the three panelists at the luncheon. The other panelist was Dr. Ken
Winters, a professor of psychiatry
at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
The institute has developed the Executive, Management and Employee Responsible Gaming Education, or EMERGE, program. As an employee education program, it uses an interactive Web-based platform for employees to earn third-party certification in responsible gaming.
Two members of the Nevada Gaming Commission attended the NCRG session. Both agreed that while they were happy with the progress researchers are making on studying compulsive gambling, they feel the state government and the industry itself should be doing more.
"It would be in their best interests and the best interests of their customers for casino companies to become more involved with problem gambling research," said
Art
Marshall, a member of the commission
.
Eleven companies have pledged NCRG for research over the next five years.
Marshall
said while he is happy that those companies have stepped to the plate, he feels there should be considerably more coming from several more sources.$7.6 million to the
Gaming Commissioner
Ray
Rawson, a former state senator
, said most lawmakers are more concerned about seeing that state government programs are funded, allowing worthy programs like problem gambling research to languish. He said to get state government more involved will take a push from the gaming industry – and he doesn't expect that to happen.
