gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

gambling revenue for the past 40 years (and Alberta revenue more generally) and have not
received this back in terms of provincial services, as service provision for First Nations is a
federal responsibility. Most other provinces with First Nations casinos allow the profits to
go exclusively to First Nations.
6. Gambling is causing significant social harm in Alberta and its negative impacts need to be
reduced. Considerable evidence exists on the various strategies that can help accomplish
this (Williams et al., 2007; 2008). Rather than listing all of these strategies, we will simply
identify the ones that are most important in the Alberta context:
There needs to be a movement away from the almost exclusive focus on educating the
gambling consumer (which has limited effectiveness) and more emphasis given to
changing the specific ways in which gambling is provided (which has more effectiveness)
(Williams et al., 2007; 2008).
Reducing the negative impacts of EGMs should be a primary target, as this is the form of
gambling most often identified by Albertans, and Western society more generally, as the
most harmful. EGMs are also one of the main reasons why such a disproportionate
amount of Alberta gambling revenue comes from such a small segment of the Alberta
population and from problem gamblers. Reducing the availability of EGMs in terms of
the numbers of machines, number of locations, and/or hours of availability is one
approach. Another useful approach is imposing constraints on how much people spend.
This could involve lowering maximum bet size and/or maximum win size. Automatic
teller machines should not be as conveniently close to gambling areas as they currently
are. Another promising strategy is requiring pre-commitment of gambling expenditure
or time. Critical to the success of pre-commitment is that a) an option exists for
imposed limits to be irrevocable and long-term, and b) biometric identification or some
other system is used that effectively deters identity swapping (Williams, 2010). 99
Automated early intervention for at-risk gamblers. Early intervention is always more
efficacious than treatment of existing problems.
Implementation of effective prevention curriculums in the high school system (Williams,
Wood, & Currie, 2010). Our children have extensive education about the perils of drugs,
alcohol, unsafe sex, and mental health issues, but currently receive almost no education
about gambling (something not unique to Alberta).
99 Short term and/or revocable spending limits may be useful for nonproblem gamblers but are not useful for
problem gamblers (who routinely make commitments that they cannot keep). Identity swapping among problem
gamblers also occurs with most card-based pre-commitment systems.
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