Some things that happen in Las Vegas might be better off staying there.
Public health researchers say gambling meccas could share valuable lessons about the effects of sports betting with states that are currently legalizing it. Next month, North Carolina will become one of the states that will make online sports betting legal for people 21 and older.
Many public health advocates here want to better understand the problem of gambling, which typically spikes soon after licensed sportsbooks open to the public, such as Nevada's desert oasis and sports betting legalization. There are other places that are paying attention.
“We're ready. We know it's coming. We understand what's happened in other states, so that makes our own preparation a little bit better. It was helpful,” Amanda Winters, program administrator for the North Carolina Problem Gambling Program, told North Carolina Health News this week. “But we’re waiting with bated breath to see how it goes.”
As of Wednesday, eight sportsbook operators are scheduled to go live here at noon on March 11, marking changes in the law that many expect will contribute to more problem gambling. ing.
The go-live date is just in time for March Madness, when college basketball fans root for and bet on teams that will advance deep into postseason play. The ACC and NCAA tournaments, which draw passionate fans, are expected to be as big a draw for gambling as the Super Bowl.
Mr Winters said: “We know there will be an increase in calls to helplines,” but it may take longer for gamblers to realize their gambling is a problem and seek help. He also acknowledged that there is.
“We know that people are experiencing greater harm when it comes to sports betting, which is why we have provided additional training to our clinicians. We've been focusing on, “The helplines are well prepared. They know they're going to be inundated with calls, and they're preparing to respond.''
study numbers
In 2023, when the General Assembly adopted a new law on legalized sports betting, lawmakers committed $2 million annually from projected state tax revenues to the North Carolina Problem Gambling Program, administered by the state Department of Health and Human Services. specified to do so.
The program will not be funded until the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, Winters said. As such, she added, preparations for the start of legalized sports betting must be done within the $1 million annual budget the program has received since the Lottery's inception in 2005.
“We can plan and that's a big part of the program we run here…The plans and programs we have in place are already built on a solid, concrete foundation. “It's about making sure that we're solid as we build on that,” Winters said. “We know we're starting from a good place.”
Michelle Malkin, a professor at East Carolina University and director of the Gambling Research and Policy Initiative, said if online sports betting apps and limited on-premises gambling were to become available to North Carolinians, despite their best efforts to prepare, He said that there is a high possibility that unforeseen consequences will occur. .
“I have yet to see a state completely prepared to tackle the unknown,” Malkin told NC Health News in a recent interview.
The Gambling Research and Policy Initiative, which Malkin leads, is part of the ECU Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. Malkin and another ECU professor, Michelle Stacey, are working on a study that will eventually collect data on the gambling behavior of 3,000 undergraduate students from community colleges and universities across the state. The state Department of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services, where Winter's program operates, donated $750,000 to the study.
Preliminary results from a survey of 1,661 students at 12 campuses in the University of North Carolina System show that 58% of those surveyed had gambled in the past year. Her 13% of respondents reported gambling at least monthly.
The study also found that male students gambled more than female students. Athletes gambled slightly more often than non-athletes.
Consistent with other researchers' findings regarding gamblers in the general population, ECU professors reported that approximately 5 percent of undergraduate students are at risk for problem gambling. This is similar to the 5.5 percent of all North Carolina adults with similar outlooks.
“Preliminary results also indicate that more than 60% of undergraduate students perceive gambling to be at least a minor problem on campus,” according to a preliminary summary of the study that Malkin shared with NC Health News. It is said that “However, education about gambling behavior and risks, and gambling risk screening is virtually non-existent on college campuses, and the majority of students (over 97%) do not know whether their campus has a policy regarding gambling behavior. .”
youth education
Alison Drain, North Carolina Problem Gambling Program Prevention Coordinator, told NC Health News that young college men are among the groups expected to see an increase in problem gambling, even though many of them are under 21. He said it was included in.
Long before plans to legalize sports gambling began, her program offered prevention programs for youth. Since 2010, they have worked with middle schools, high schools, and community organizations to educate youth about potentially risky behaviors. The data from the program evaluation was enlightening.
“What we're seeing is that kids have been gambling of all kinds, including sports betting, for quite some time,” Drain said. “They participate in gambling among friends, simply betting on sporting events and skill-based games, including video games.
“We don't have enough data in front of us to tell us about everything kids do, but in terms of what's legally available and what's illegally available, kids are doing it all. That's what I'm doing.”
Gambling disorder, Drain added, is similar to a substance use disorder.
“The earlier you engage in an activity, the more likely you are to become addicted to it later on because it involves brain structure and development,” Drane says.
Research shows that gambling can cause similar neurological responses as using addictive substances such as cocaine and alcohol. Gamblers can experience surges of dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin when they make bets, especially when they win or have a “near miss.”
“Kids at that age are at a developmental stage and are engaging in high-risk behaviors, which is great because…we want them to try new things,” Drain said. They're talking with their parents and other trusted adults about whether it's worth the risk to get an education and what it will mean in the long run. ”
The DHHS program has been providing substance use disorder grants to universities for some time, Drain added. We recently began working with an organization that provides a live sports betting experience for retired athletes. They visit campuses and speak with athletes who may be at risk for problem gambling behavior due to their competitive nature.
“We are building on this by finding other means to reach parents who are very concerned about their college-aged children engaging in sports betting through online education and other means. We want to come and develop the program,” Drain said.
public health issue
In addition to youth-targeted programs, the NC Problem Gambling Program focuses on ensuring that clinicians are well-trained to recognize sports gambling problems and are committed to researching data-driven solutions. Masu.
“The purpose of funding the (ECU) research institute was to provide a baseline understanding of where we are as a state and to monitor and consider emerging trends, special populations and the impact of sports betting,” Winters said. said. “We've seen other states do a great job with their research agendas, but they were looking at casino gambling and lotteries. This is new.”
An early February webinar on sports betting and gambling addiction, hosted by SciLine, a nonprofit organization based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, will feature interviews from around the country before the Kansas City Chiefs and Sun Stadium's Super Bowl LII. The three researchers gathered spoke with reporters. Francisco 49ers. They emphasized the importance of funding research on sports betting.
Billions of dollars are bet on Super Bowl weekend, and the stakes extend far beyond which team will win. It could take weeks to find out how many of those bets may have led to help-seeking hotlines, but researchers expect an increase after the games.
Mark Potenza, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and director of the Yale University School of Medicine Gambling Research Center of Excellence, told reporters during a SciLine webinar that the data shows that “many people believe that gambling is a drug use activity. “This shows that we believe it is less harmful than it is,” he said.
He also said that “diagnosing gambling disorder requires higher standards than are required to diagnosing substance use disorders,'' leading to fewer people seeking and receiving treatment. He added that it could lead to.
Another factor, Potenza said, is that “there is very little, and I mean relatively little, funding for treatment and research into problem gambling.”
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Democratic Rep. Andrea Salinas of Oregon signed the Gambling Addiction Recovery Investment and Treatment Act to create a federal funding source for research on gambling addiction. It was introduced in May.
Potenza said the legislation would direct half of the federal sports excise tax to fund gambling addiction, prevention, treatment and research programs for the estimated 7 million people in the U.S. who have gambling problems. will be targeted.
Shane Kraus is an assistant professor of psychology. behavioral addiction lab University of Nevada, Las Vegas professors and Timothy Fung, clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA's Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, also advocate for more research funding, including seeking funding from the National Football League and other sports franchises. emphasized the need for options. It's even more taxing.
”[W]”We need much larger corporations to fund youth support and public health research,” Kraus said. “We need to treat this as a public health issue.” But we also need federal, state, and industry support, which isn't happening. ”
“I'm not embarrassed.”
Back in North Carolina, Winters and Drane agreed that problem gambling should be viewed from a public health perspective.
“We're taking a public health approach to this,” Winters said. “We're data-driven. We want to do the best we can. We're always trying to improve. We're here to learn.”
As North Carolina moves toward legalizing sports betting, there's at least one lesson Winters wants North Carolinians to learn. “There's no shame in having problems. Anyone can do it. Not everyone does. It's a disease, not a decision.”
Winters stressed that it's okay to use software to block gambling apps, stop betting, or ask for help.
Mr. Winters shared a story about how some people who are not familiar with Cookie Monster are afraid of Cookie Monster's blue muppet. Sesame street If they weren't immersed in the culture of chocolate chip cookie lovers.
“If you didn't know who Cookie Monster was and he came running up to you, you'd be like, 'Oh my god,'” Winter said. “The same goes for problem gambling. It's not some big scary monster. It's a monster, but the more we talk about it, the more normalized it becomes.”
This article first appeared in North Carolina Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
