Here’s an interesting little article to come out of the Responsible Gambling Council.
Dr. Howard Shaffer who is the director of Harvard Medical School’s Division of Addictions says that according to his research online gamblers demonstrate more restraint and control than at land-based casinos and that despite the explosion of online gambling over the last several years the rate of problem gambling among the general population has stayed relatively the same. In fact the report states that problem gambling has actually declined from 0.7% in the 1970’s to 0.6% today.
Either the RGC heavily put their own spin on the research of Dr. Shaffer is a strong advocate for online gaming as the report says that he concludes that prohibition laws against online gaming will not work and quotes him as saying, “In a democratic society, a society that values liberty, most people think they (US players) should have the opportunity to gamble.”
Researchers usually just state their findings and demonstrate what the facts have shown. Here it seems Dr. Shaffer is crossing the border into being an advocate for online gaming which I applaud on one hand because it goes to prove something that many people have been saying for years but on the other hand he risks tainting his findings by taking a position on the subject.
photocred goes to robstephaustralia