An interesting discussion on BBC Radio yesterday highlighted what has long been known – that education is the best way to combat problem gambling. The programme, commenting on an interview with a Government Minister responsible for gambling, heard from a casino consultant, an eminent gambling studies professor, a Salvation Army representative and an ex gambling addict who had started gambling at age eight and admitted that education on the subject might have prevented his problem.

Most informed sources expect that the soon to be released report on the prevalence of gambling in Britain will show a rise in problem gambling. As Professor Peter Collins pointed out, any increase comes before the new government initiatives to help prevent problem gambling are in place. In other countries it has been shown that with extensive consumer awareness programmes the number of gamblers getting into difficulties has a tendency to decline.

The anti-gambling lobbies will doubtless seize upon any rise in problem gambling statistics as armament for their campaigns. Many still adhere to the concept of gambling as a vice that cannot be a legitimate form of entertainment. The comment yesterday that a night out gambling should not be expected to return any money, just as eating at a restaurant means paying for the food provided, demonstrates how gambling should be viewed. At the centre of this lies the role of education, and not only through proactive consumer awareness programmes, the display of helpline numbers, notices about the dangers of gambling to excess and advice on sensible measures to limit gambling.

Gambling education should start in childhood with lessons in probabilities and odds. There will always be a small percentage of addicts whose gambling is just one symptom of a pathological problem, but a well-informed public will see gambling for what it is – another form of entertainment with a very small possibility of some return on outlay. After all, the odds speak for themselves. (E-08.29.07)

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