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As a public health strategy, some governments create policies to regulate the gambling industry and prevent gambling-related harm; however, most policies focus on the individual rather than the health of the whole community. There is also concern that because the government profits from the gambling industry, their policies may be biased. A similar bias could apply to researchers, since some of them receive funding from the gambling industry. A way to minimize this potential bias would be to have a third-party organization act as an intermediary between researchers and the gambling industry. Gambling Research Exchange Ontario is one such organization. It works directly with the gambling industry to arrange access for researchers, who want to collect data, to the venues where people are gambling. This helps to keep researchers and the gambling industry separate.
Gambling policies should establish goals to reduce harm and provide support to all people who gamble. Specifically, policies could include monitoring standards and placing limits on aspects of the gambling environment, such as the venue location and types of gambling activity.
Download the two-page Gambling Enviroment Factor summary (PDF)
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Download the Gambling Enviroment Factor section from the Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling (PDF)
Download the complete Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling (PDF)
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