Is government sanctioned online gambling worth the social cost? (Stephan Savoia/AP)
The moral calculation of government sanctioned online gambling is pretty straightforward.
Canadians lose money every day on online gambling sites. In Alberta, the number is estimated to be $120-$150 million a year. In order to get a piece of that action, provincial governments are willing to accept the social problems that come along with gambling. And to even exploit the small number of people - maybe two to three per cent of the adult population - who have a serious gambling problem.
The money is good and easy and since people are doing it anyway - so why not keep the proceeds in provincial coffers?
But as Alberta considers sponsoring online gaming, it's worthwhile to look again at some of the social costs associated with it.
Hierarchy of Harms
According to Robert Williams, a gambling researcher at the University of Lethbridge, there's a hierarchy of harms when it comes to gambling
"At the lowest end of harm are lotteries, then bingo, maybe horse racing," said Williams. "Always the last thing to get legalized is the thing with the highest addiction potential."
Williams says that the incidence of problem gambling online is three to four times that of land based casinos. It's easy to see why.
Online gambling is accessible, it's in your house or on your phone. If you're underage, you can lie, If you're drunk, no one will know, none of the social safeguards are in place as they are even at a casino.
Research shows that 50 per cent of high school and college/university students have gambled online and up to nine per cent of youth have lost money of gambling sites.
Ray Reshke is the executive director with Problem Gambling Resources Network in Alberta, an NGO that offers counselling and information sessions in schools.
Fraught with problems
"It's fraught with problems," said Reshke. "At least if people are going to gamble at a land-based casino, they have to get out of their house, get into their car, drive a few blocks. In that period in between, there might be a moment of sober second where you might say I'm in over my head already, I don't need to go to casino."
If you already have a gambling problem, it can escalate. International numbers show that approximately 27 per cent of gambling revenues come from a small percentage of problem gamblers.
And while governments are correct in saying that online gambling is already well established, international numbers show that once online gambling is sanctioned by a government, more people do it.
In the UK - one of the first jurisdictions to liberalize gambling laws — 14 of the population gambles online. Fewer than 5 per cent of Canadians do so.
The UK example also shows that once people get a taste of online gambling, many get bored with state sanctioned sites and gamble abroad, where the money doesn't cycle back into provincial economies
Meanwhile the social problems stay put.
Williams says that even if only two to three percent of of Albertans may have a gambling problem, the social ills are wider spread.
"The majority of gamblers are married, the majority have kids, so there's the inter-generational effect on your kids, the amount of divorces, bankruptcies, suicides. So roughly one out of ten people are adversely impacted, mostly in a social or psychological way, by problem gambling.
What is the role of government?
Williams says the question becomes whether its the role of government to adjust its policy to fit with existing behaviour - to ride the online gambling wave since it can - or does it have the moral obligation to shape society in a positive manner.
"If the purpose of the government is to serve the people not exploit the people, then yes, capturing a disproportionate amount of your revenue from a highly vulnerable segment of the population is ethically problematic."
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