North Carolina Gambling Prevalence [report]

The report "Effects of the North Carolina State Lottery on the Incidence of Gambling Addiction" (2007, February) was produced by the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services [North Carolina].

Interestingly, this report aims to accomplish what many researchers have been calling for withe resepect to the introduction of legalized gambling... establish a baseline measure of how many people have gambling-related problems both before gambling is introduced to a jurisdiction.

Specifically, "Legislation (House Bill 1023) that established the North Carolina State Lottery included a provision that required the Department of Health and Human Services to study its impact on the incidence of gambling addiction in the state. This report presents findings on gambling behaviors among adult North Carolinians prior to the sale of the first lottery ticket on March 30, 2006 and provides the reference against which the incidence of gambling will be measured in the future."

Casinos and Regeneration [policy paper]

The Institute for Public Policy Research in the U.K.) has produced the short policy paper "Casinos and Regeneration: The story so far" (2007, February).

This Centre for Cities briefing note deconstructs the decision, before critically assessing the relationship between casinos and regeneration more generally. It focuses on the regeneration issues around supercasino development. It concludes with some lessons for Manchester.

Gaming Law Review, January 2007 [journal issue]

Volume 11, No. 1 of the journal Gaming Law Review (2007, January) is now available to subscribers. Original articles include:

• Extraditing Peter Dicks
• The Post-Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act Online-Gaming Surge?
• Virtual Worlds, Real Damages: The Odd Case of American Hero, the Greatest Horse that May Have Lived
• The Duty to Preserve Casino Surveillance Video Evidence: Ensuring Compliance with Mississippi Gaming Regulation § 10(e)
• State Lotteries, Commercial Casinos, and Public Finance: An Uneasy Relationship Revisited

Research and Measurement Issues [Forthcoming book]

The book Research and Measurement Issues in Gambling Studies is set to be available from Elsevier in May, 2007. It has been co-edited by the Alberta Gaming Research Institute's three research coordinators -- Dr. Garry Smith (U. of Alberta), Dr. David Hodgins (U. of Calgary), and Dr. Rob Williams (U. of Lethbridge).

This extensive book includes contributions from leading international experts on methodologies and measurement tools relevant to gambling studies.

le jeu pathologique [reports]

Two new youth gambling-related reports are available from The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ). They are:

1. Évaluation du programme expérimental sur le jeu pathologique / Rapport synthèse (2006)
2. Évaluation du programme expérimental sur le jeu pathologique - Monitorage évaluatif - Entrevues avec les directions et les coordonnateurs sur l'organiation des services et leur évolution (2006)

Tired Gamblers [online article]

An organization called the Canada Safety Council has an article on their web site entitled "Gambling, Fatigue and Drowsy Driving" contributed by Nina Littman-Sharp at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Littman-Sharp provides some highlights of findings from a study carried out on 66 clients of the Problem Gambling Service of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. For those of you driving near casinos late at night (or perhaps leaving from one yourself), be careful behind the wheel of a vehicle!

Packaging Gambling with Sex [newsletter article]

The newsletter article "Packaging gambling with sex a risky combination for teens" is featured in the Winter, 2006 issue of Youth Gambling International from McGill University's International Centre for Youth Gambling Problema & High-Risk Behaviors.

For anyone wondering, the article discusses provocative advertising by various online gambling sites that use scantily-clad models.

Tunica, Mississippi Revitalization [newsletter article]

The newsletter article "Tunica Lays Big Bet on the Casino Industry" appears in the January, 2007 issue of Regional Economist - a publication of The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Over the past decade or so, Tunica, Mississippi has transformed from a desperately poor region with poor prospects for economic growth to one that is thriving. Much of the credit for this change is said to have been as a result of the introduction of casino gambling. Based on what economists like Dr. Bill Eadington have written, it would seem that Tunica meets the criteria for places that would be likely to benefit from casino development (i.e., few existing industries, choice of "destination-style" facilities to attract tourists, and residents who are generally willing to accept both the positive and negative effects of casino gambling).

Local Government Planning re Gaming [report]

The Community Advocacy on Gambling (CAOG) group in Australia has produced the report "Gaming, Tobacco and Local Government in Victoria: A State of Readiness?" (2007, January) which seeks to provide an analysis of Local Government planner knowledge of relevant gaming legislation and of processes used by planners.

It strikes me that the input of local planners themselves is something that might often be overlooked when it comes to actually implementing government venue regulations / restrictions.

Collection of Recent Gaming-Related Materials [library titles]

For anyone interested in what gambling-related materials were processed for inclusion in the U. of Lethbridge Library's collection for the period September - December 2006, take a look at the web page "U of Lethbridge New Gaming Titles".

The Florida Gambling Scene [2 reports]

Two recent reports from theFlorida Council on Compulsive Gambling include:

1) Gambling on Credit: Exploring the Link Between Compulsive Gambling and Access to Credit (2006) -- This item summarizes the findings and recommendations of a national Think Tank convened in May 2006 by the council.

2) Gambling among Florida Middle and High School Students (2006, June) - The analysis presented in this report is based upon a secondary analysis of data collected during the school year 2005, in a survey sponsored by the Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF).

Canadian Gaming Business, Dec. 2006 / Jan. 2007 [new online issue]

The December 2006 / January 2007 issue of Canadian Gaming Business trade publication has been made freely available online.

Included are interesting articles on the next generation of electronic table games, a profile on several publicly-traded Canadian gaming stocks, and highlights of activities provided by provincial gaming authorities.

Youth Gambling in Alberta [survey results]

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) has released results from the second cycle of The Alberta Youth Experience Survey (TAYES) to measure alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use and gambling activity among Alberta students in grades 7 through 12.

Highlights of gambling-related findings are available in the short report entitled "Youth Gambling in Alberta" (2007, January).

For additional information about the survey, take a look at the most recent issue (Winter 2006 / 2007) of AAADAC's Developments newsletter.

Undergound Slots [policy report]

The Abell Foundation of Maryland recently published the report "Underground Video Gambling: Still in Violation of the Law, and Still Thriving" (2007, January) which follows up on their original publication entitled "Underground Video Gambling Industry Costing Maryland More Than $15 Million Annually In Uncollected Taxes" (2006, January).

The new report chronicals what has taken place as a result of the release of the original report. It appears that the authorities are cracking down somewhat on these so-called "vending machines" but real change might only happen if slot machine gambling is legalized in Maryland. The reason given is because, "...the state would be more inclined to pressure local jurisdictions to eliminate the illegal machines to avoid competition with legal slots."

Aboriginal Conference Presenter Submissions [Conference Opportunity]

The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba invites the submission of presentations / papers (deadline Feb. 15th, 2007) for the Third National Aboriginal Gambling Awareness Conference which will take place between June 5th and 7th in Winnipeg, Manitoba.