Implementing Responsible Gambling: Lessons for Asia

1
Implementing Responsible Gambling Lessons for
Asia

• Prof Peter Collins
• University of Salford
• Macau
• October 2009

2
Gambling and Public GoodwillGeneral Thesis and
Overview

• Asia, and especially Macao, will need to take
  responsible gambling issues more will need to
  develop and implement responsible gambling
  programmes more vigorously and thoughtfully than
  it has needed to in the past the form
• This is because a reputation for having a
  gambling industry which delivers harmless
  entertainment in a responsible way and does not
  ruthlessly exploit human weakness for profit is
  vital for the success of the gambling industry
• A good responsible gambling policy will, however,
  not only eliminate the negatives of problem
  gambling and the associated negative public
  perceptions and hostile regulation it will also
  generate positive benefits
• How examples from around the world demonstrate
  this
• What this means in practice a globally agreed
  set of responsible gambling policies, programmes
  and practices (Cp the Harvard Club group)

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The Three Classic Objectives of Gambling
Regulation

• Keep crime out
• Ensure fairness to players
• Protect children and other vulnerable persons
• Note All these objectives can be seen as part
  of any governments duty to protect its citizens
  from force and fraud at the hands of others, and
  to ensure that in all business transactions both
  suppliers and consumers are properly protected by
  the law.

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Macao, Asia and the Three Objectives

• The Macao industry itself is now largely
  crime-free, though the junket market may be
  difficult to supervise
• Competition in Macao as well as better regulation
  now ensure fairness to players, including a fair
  house advantage which means that the price of
  gambling entertainment is not excessive
• This is not true in other parts of Asia where
  there are monopolies
• Little is done about problem gambling issues
  partly because the Asian market, like the Nevada
  market, is mainly a tourist market
• But both public and official concern about
  responsible gambling issues is growing in
  importance and Asian Problem gambling rates seem
  to be about 4 times greater than Western ones
• As everywhere else in the world, public opinion
  is divided on how much legal gambling should be
  available and the division centres round
  different views of the potential economic
  benefits versus potential social costs associated
  with problem gambling but in Asia moral
  objections to gambling are stronger

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So what are Problem Gambling and Responsible
Gambling

• Problem gambling refers to any situation where
  people are spending so much money or time
  gambling that they cause significant harm to
  themselves and/or others
• Sometimes this is because their gambling is
  compulsive or addictive, i.e. they would like
  to stop but cannot
• Sometimes this is because they dont understand
  various aspects of what they are doing, e.g. that
  the odds ensure that they will lose in the end or
  that gambling has become an obsession with them
  which is interfering with their work or family
  life
• Responsible gambling refers to a situation in
  which those who choose to gamble do so harmlessly
  and to the measures which the players, the
  gambling companies and the government take to
  promote responsible gambling

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The Best Responsible Gambling Policy

• Will ensure that everything that reasonably can
  be done to prevent problem gambling is done
• Will make sure that expert, confidential help is
  available free of charge, round the clock to
  anyone who thinks they may themselves be a
  problem gamblers or is in a close relationship
  with someone they think is a problem gambler
• Will ensure that understanding of the character,
  causes and consequences of problem gambling are
  better understood through the commissioning of
  appropriate research and the dissemination of its
  findings in user-friendly language to all who
  might need it political leaders, regulators,
  health, education and other professionals, the
  media and the general public
• It will also harness both gambling policy and
  problem gambling policy to other popular and
  socially desirable objectives

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Four Examples from around the World Question 1

• An academic economist (who therefore expects to
  lose) regularly goes to the local venue which
  houses several hundred high-prize gambling
  machines and where he can get a meal and a drink
  as well. He goes mainly to have a drink or a meal
  with family or friends but says he always puts a
  few dollars in the machine even though he doesnt
  enjoy gambling very much. He does this, he says,
  because he feels it his duty.
• Where did this happen and why and with what
  consequences for the operators of the gambling
  venue?

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First set of Answers

• It happened in Sydney, Australia, in one of the
  community clubs originally founded for veterans,
  sporting groups etc and which have over the years
  been allowed to install large numbers of gambling
  machines to boost their revenues
• It happened because most ordinary citizens,
  whether they like gambling or not, believe these
  clubs to be a wonderful asset to the community as
  a whole, which deserve to be protected and
  supported
• Particularly popular are the large and highly
  visible contributions they make in the form of
  financing new local hospital wings, equipping
  local schools, funding university projects etc
• The consequence is that the clubs have paid
  little or no tax and the management of the clubs
  have been amongst the best remunerated people in
  Australia, earning considerably more than the
  Prime Minister

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Four Examples from around the World Question 2

• Where and why and with what consequences for
  operators can you open a gambling venue which
• - Can offer Las Vegastype machine gambling
• - Pays no tax
• - And has a monopoly in its catchment area
• - Because a majority of the public thinks it is
  morally right that you should be able to do this?

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Second Set of Answers

• In those parts of the USA, notably Connecticut
  and California, where you can open an Indian
  casino
• Because many Americans feel that this is a way of
  compensating them for the expropriation and
  partial genocide of Native American populations
  between the end of the Civil War (1865) and the
  Wounded Knee massacre of 1890
• The consequence is that owners and operators of
  Indian casinos own and operate the largest and
  most profitable casinos in the world. (Foxwoods,
  Mohegun Sun etc)
• The Nevada industry is possibly mortally wounded

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Four Examples from around the World Question 3

• Where and why and with what consequences for
  operators
• Do the industry and the regulators formally
  co-operate to ensure that
• When there is bad news about gambling it is put
  into perspective for both journalists and
  politicians
• By credible experts and
• That at regular intervals there is good news
  about responsible gambling to be reported
• Which is regularly and favourably reported in the
  media and in briefings to politicians
• None of which involves any form of deception?

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Third set of Answers

• South Africa
• Because the public and private sectors recognise
• - that their common interest in a profitable and
  stable industry
• - means that they must ensure that the industry
  is viewed favourably by the public as a socially
  responsible provider of harmless entertainment
  to the consumers
• - as well as other benefits for communities,
  e.g. enhancement of tourism
• Result
• - most attempts by anti-gambling lobbies to get
  unnecessary and profit damaging laws and
  regulations imposed on the industry have not
  been able to garner popular support and have been
  fairly easily resisted
• - good profits are consequently combined with
  useful benefits to provincial governments in
  both cash and kind

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Four Examples from around the World Question 4

• Where, why and with what consequences is it
  
• widely and falsely claimed by the media and
  believed by the public
• in the teeth of near-incontrovertible evidence to
  the contrary
• that a reckless and exploitative gambling
  industry has over the past decade
• with the active connivance of government,
• dramatically increased the volume of avoidable
  human misery it inflicts by generating a
  substantial increase in problem gambling
  alongside a substantial increase in gambling
  participation
• and done nothing remotely adequate to stem this
  social evil?

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Set of Answers to Fourth Riddle

• The UK
• Why? Because ever since the Budd Report in 2001
  the Industry and Government
• - have so far failed to design, implement,
  resource and publicise
• - a comprehensive, coherent and credible
  strategy for minimising the harm caused to a
  minority by excessive gambling
• - while not curbing the legitimate consumer
  choices of the majority
• With the consequence that
• - journalists are still (2009) castigating the
  government for its irresponsibility
• - the industry as a whole is losing more money
  than it otherwise would to taxes, levies and
  restrictions on freedom to trade
• - all interested parties (industry executives,
  public officials, service providers) remain at
  loggerheads rather than collaborating on what to
  do about a) problem gambling and b) public
  perceptions of it
• - and FOBTs and other new forms of gambling
  remain under regulatory threat
• - despite the fact that if they had caused an
  increase in problem gambling, this would have
  shown up in the Prevalence survey
• - whose deeply revealing results no-one (except
  me) has paid any serious attention to
• - because to do so would undermine their
  ideological or economic interests

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Lessons for Asia from around the world (1)
Reality and Perceptions

• Perceptions of problem gambling are a huge
  problem for the industry and the regulators
• Both have a powerful interest in purchasing
• - Hostile stories in media ABSENCE OF
• Industry (but not necessarily public officials)
  additionally has an interest in
• - Profit-damaging regulation ABSENCE OF
• - Swingeing levies and taxes ABSENCE OF
• The best way of changing perceptions is to change
  the reality

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Lessons for Asia from around the world (2)
Prevention and Treatment

• Problem Gambling in Asia (Hong Kong, Macao and
  Singapore) using Chinese SOGS is /-4 of the
  adult population in the West the number is
  around 1
• This is probably explained by levels of
  development rather than genetic or deep-seated
  cultural differences (cp South African Indians
  and lottery players)
• This is important to the extent that it suggests
  that best practice elsewhere should work in Asia
  too
• We dont know enough in general about effective
  prevention and treatment but
• - we (seem to) do better with problem gambling
  treatments (20 relapse rates) than liquor and
  drugs (where relapse rates are about 80) if
  this is mainly due to ignorance then public
  education may be a remedy
• - the evidence from the US national Comorbidity
  Study suggests that problem gamblers fall into
  two categories, very difficult cases with poor
  prognoses, needing intensive therapies over a
  long period of time and comparatively easy cases
  with good prognoses, responding well and quite
  quickly to brief interventions
• - The key differentiator is comorbidity with
  other addictions and other psychological
  disorders such as depression and anxiety
• - We know that those who seek treatment for
  problem gambling are 5 times more likely to get
  well than those who dont seek treatment
• We also think that the risk of developing
  problem gambling can be reduced, if, as in Asia,
  the highest stakes gambling is restricted to
  destination casinos where there is less risk of
  gambling on impulse

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Lessons for Asia from around the world(3) Other
Ways of Minimising Negatives

• It is quite easy to meet the goal of being able
  to say truthfully We do everything we
  reasonably can to minimise the harm caused by
  excessive gambling
• Fund useful research about how to treat, prevent
  and regulate problem gambling without frustrating
  the legitimate interests of non-problem gamblers
  most research undermines the prohibitionist
  lobby
• Publicise the existence of free, expert and
  confidential treatment for all who want it
• Ensure that the best treatment is in fact
  available by regularly updating it in line with
  the latest developments in research and best
  practice
• Ensure that all professionals likely to come into
  contact with problem gamblers are made aware of
  the nature and peculiarities of problem gambling
• Ensure that children are taught about the dangers
  of gambling and how to avoid them as part of
  their education about risk-taking behaviours
• Ensure that the general public knows about the
  dangers of gambling and how to avoid them
• NB If this is done voluntarily by the industry
  they retain some de jure influence on the process
  and accumulate some kudos if it is done through
  a levy, the industry loses both though a levy
  makes life easier for regulators.

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Lessons for Asia from around the world(3)
Accentuating Positives

• What we also need to think about is how
  addressing the problem of reducing the quite
  small volume of trouble caused by problem
  gambling (reducing social costs) can be allied to
  generating public benefits in other areas
• In Asia, the implementation of a national
  responsible gambling strategy can do this to the
  advantage of society as a whole by combining what
  is most successfully done especially in South
  Africa (in education and prevention), Australia
  (furthering other non-gambling-related social
  objectives) and Canada (especially research)
• This will also enhance the reputations of both
  government and industry and, as a consequence,
  increase tax revenues and profits
• Such a programme based on best practice would
  include
• - integrating research, prevention, education
  and treatment for problem gambling- combining
  this with research into other addictions (some
  say gambling is the purest form of addiction for
  purposes of neurophysiological study), other
  psychological disorders such as depressions and
  anxiety, and other physical disorders, e.g.
  Parkinsons Disease
• - wider consumer education especially in
  relation to other money management problems, e.g.
  compulsive shopping, credit card abuse, debt
  management etc
• - maths teaching
• - teaching important aspects of political
  theory, business ethics and entrepreneurship,
• - promoting the development of critical
  reasoning by facilitating debate about moral
  issues in which everybody is required to do
  justice to both or all sides of the argument
  including especially the side they disagree with

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Lessons for Asia from around the world (5)
Organisation and Funding

• Governments and Industry have a common interest
  in a profitable gambling industry which enjoys a
  high degree of public approval
• Public approval and disapproval depend mainly on
  how the issue of problem gambling is perceived
• This means government and industry must work in
  partnership to ensure that neither government nor
  industry are seen as exploiting human weakness
  rather than providing harmless entertainment
• In particular, they must collaborate to do as
  much as possible to prevent people spending so
  much time and money gambling that they do serious
  damage to their own lives and those of others
• Industry should set the cost of funding this as a
  national responsible gambling programme against
  their budgets for marketing, branding and public
  relations
• Indicative figures are a minimum of 0.1 of gross
  gambling revenues (money won from players) or
  about 3 of marketing budgets
• The spending of this money should be determined
  by a dedicated body (like a National Responsible
  Gambling Foundation) which has representation
  from industry, government and independent
  citizens who should commission specialist service
  providers in the areas of research, treatment and
  prevention

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CONCLUSIONS

• To ensure that the public view the gambling
  industry as socially responsible is an essential
  public relations task for both the gambling
  industry and for the government which regulates
  and taxes it
• But the Public Relations exercise cannot succeed
  unless it is underpinned by demonstrable
  realities, i.e. by an industry and a government
  who really do take their responsibilities
  seriously
• To get a copy of this presentation please e-mail
  p.collins_at_salford.ac.uk.