The announcement by The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) in Toronto about their new “Within Limits” programme to “blanket the province of Ontario with information about gambling related risks, tips on avoiding the risks and where to get help if you have a gambling problem,” is just another limited effort to help problem gamblers, which in many cases is a matter of too little, too late.

The claim by the RGC about working their ambitious programme with over 50 organizations across the Canadian Province is said to be the largest prevention problem gambling programme to date. Indeed, the new plan will be aimed at different cultural groups as the information will be available in several languages including French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, to take care of the immigrant communities.

With a target audience of adults between the ages of 35 and 59, the programme draws from its 2004 evaluation, and has the support of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, which has agreed to open the doors to casinos and lottery outlets across the province. RGC CEO John Kelly comments: “The RGC has long believed that reducing problem gambling depends on the commitment of all stakeholders including treatment professionals, researchers, government departments, and gaming providers. This program is an example of that principle at its best."

The “With Limits” programme is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health and has a CAN$1.5 million grant to take its message to an estimated 2.5 million people from racetracks to bingo halls, but excludes the vulnerable young and the old. The problem with programmes like these is that the marketing angle is focused on the organizations and their executives, who are happy to see some government backing to reward their efforts in their problem gambling crusade.

A proactive stance on gambling
In Australia, the Australian National University's Centre for Gambling Research (CGR) has come out stating the obvious as they report that support programmes need to be expanded for problem gamblers, taking into account the needs of different cultural groups, because of the inadequacy of the present support groups to help the Chinese and the Arabs, when some members of these cultural groups find themselves in need of, and resort to, counselling.

Responsible gaming organizations can only go so far and their work can only start once the problem has taken root. As in Ontario, gaming companies around the world also have responsible gaming programmes that involve operators, who are the first to diagnose problem gambling in their customers, and still these programmes remain a part of a reaction that arrives too late.

It falls to governments to return some of the revenues received in the form of gaming taxes by investing in a proactive stance in problem gambling, which will increase with the offer of additional gaming products in the market place. The work, laudable though it is, cannot be done by gaming problem agencies or organizations, but must be through educational policies that teach gambling, its source and consequences, much in the same way as education on sex, drugs and alcohol abuse. Governments’ proactive stance must start at school level. (E-03.02.05)

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