 8. Future Research Recommendations In 1996, Congress created the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, or NGISC, and directed it to conduct a thorough study of the attitude, event and trend shaping the social and economic impacts of legal gambling in America. It quickly became apparent to Commission that very little objective research existed on the currency of gambling in our nation. The Commission decided to commit nearly half of its $5 million budget to a research agenda that would help policy makers and the public better understand the dramatic growth of the gambling industry over the last two decades. The primary research program of the NGISC is embodied in the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council and the University of Chicago affiliate the National Opinion Research Center, reports on gambling behavior, problem and pathological gambling, and later issues such as the availability and efficacy of treatment for gambling disorders. Useful data on state law trees was developed by Philip Cook and Charles Clarkfelter of Duke University. Other valuable information was obtained in answers from all 37 state law tree regulators and about 150 casino operators. Much helpful testimony on economic and social outcomes was given at our six regional site hearings, frequently describing research conducted in individual states. That was of PR review quality. The data analyzes the Commission's research, generated as added some legal knowledge based on legal gambling. Yet what is very clear is that there is still a dearth of impartial objective research that the public and policy makers at federal, tribal, state and corporate levels need to shape public policies on the impacts of legal gambling. The gambling industry continues to undergo dynamic change. Many of our private sector gambling corporations have become international, national or regional in their marketing strategy, customer base, and other essential aspects. These private sector operations per state run their trees, generating more than $50 billion in revenue this year. The parameters that use to define different forms of gambling are blurring. Betting from home is becoming more common. Betting over the internet may soon become universal. Understanding the ever-evolving economic forms of legal gambling is important. There are undeniably many millions of problem and pathological gamblers causing severe harm to themselves, their families and many others. Understanding the reasons that gambling disorders are multiplying is crucial to the health and stability of these families, their communities and many businesses. Without a clearer understanding of issues involved in this complex subject, all of us are less able to make sound judgments about future impacts of the gambling industry. Consider, for example, that more than $88 million in aggregate was spent on the 1998 referendum in California that would liberally expand Native American tribal casinos in the state. With no objective body of knowledge available, 30-second television spots define a campaign dialogue. The public, Congress, and tribal and state leaders need access to impartial data on which informed judgments can be based. In the past years, Congress initiated research on other disorders in effective and visionary ways. The nation knows far more about drug and alcohol abuse because Congress strongly supported research and is taken primarily by national institutes that provide insurmountable data. But it makes sense, these models should now be followed to understand the benefits and costs of legal gambling, including the causes and effects of gambling disorders. As you all read in several other recommendations below, the commission is proposing that gambling components but appropriate beyond the existing federal research in the substance abuse and other mental health fields. Adopting that strategy will at least cost greatly accelerate the collection and analysis of data needed to design sensible solutions. Taking the 15 federal and politic research recommendations in their totality, the commission is trying to gauge the positive and negative outcomes of governmental, tribal, and state and private sector legal gambling. In virtually every past instance, white proponents and opponents of their research was usually advocacy and not objective data produced by impartial sources that must be remedied. The research recommendations to Congress and the states will produce knowledge that policymakers need to answer thousands of questions they will be asked in the first decade of a new millennium. Recommendations 8.1 The commission recommends that Congress encourage the appropriate institutes within the national institutes of health, NIH, to convene a multidisciplinary advisory panel that will help establish a broad framework for research on problem and pathological gambling as used within its range of expertise. 8.2 The commission recommends that Congress direct the substance abuse and mental health services administration or SAMHSA or other appropriate agency to add gambling components to the national household survey on drop of use. To understand the expanding dimensions of problem and pathological gambling nationwide, gambling prevalence studies need to be of sufficient volume and with annual updates to record changes brought about by expanding legalization, great accessibility, technological advances and increasingly sophisticated games. This survey will examine not only the general population but also sizeable subgroups such as youth, women, the elderly and minority gamblers if no other more appropriate longitude in Austin East focusing on each of these groups are available. In any event, no debtor gathering pursuant to these recommendations should violate any person's rights and medical privacy in seeking treatment for problem or pathological gambling. 8.3 The commission recommends that Congress direct all federal agencies conducting or supporting longitude research panels to consider the feasibility of adding gambling components to such surveys and appropriate. Entertain applications such components are determined to have high scientific merit through scientific peer review. In addition to addressing gambling behavior, these components include questions about treatment seeking behavior in order to begin to address the issue of the unmet need for treatment which is currently announced. 8.4 The commission recommends that Congress encourage the National Institutes of Health or NIH to issue a revision of the special research program announcement for research applications on pathological gambling to foster research designs to identify the age of initiation of gambling, influence our family and correlate with other youth high risk behavior such as tobacco, alcohol and other drug use early sexual activity and criminal activity evaluated separately for legal and legal forms of gambling. 8.5 The commission recommends that Congress direct the appropriate institute in our age to invite appropriate applications for supplemental funds to legal and legal gambling components of high scientific merit to appropriate and relevant existing surveys and to issue a revision of the special program announcement for research applications on pathological gambling to include the following areas. The impact on family members such as divorce, spousal, end-of-child abuse, severe financial instability and suicide, analysis of public awareness education and prevention programs offered at federal, tribal, state or corporate levels, analysis of the development of gambling difficulties associated with electronic gambling devices or EGDs and the risk factors that accompany this evolution for customers most are usually on to this form of gambling. 9.8 Effect on the workplace such as economic losses arising from unemployment, loss of productivity and workplace accidents. A study that was established reliable instruments to measure non-monetary costs associated with legal gambling including without limitation, divorce, domestic violence, child abuse and chronic neglect, suicide and the secondary effects of bankruptcy and gambling related crimes and other outcomes of a similar character. 8.6 The commission recommends that Congress direct the appropriate institute of NIH to invite the appropriate applications for supplemental funds to issue a revision of the special program announcement for research applications to commence a study of American adult problem gamblers below the pathological gambler threshold or APA DSM IV. The gambling behaviour of those in this large group of 11 million adults and juveniles reveal warning signs that require thorough analysis. The gamblers in this group could go either way that is to us diminishing risk or to its pathological status. 8.7 The commission recommends that Congress direct the substance abuse and mental health services administration or SAMHSA or other appropriate agency to add specific gambling questions to its annual surveys of mental health providers which are conducted by the Centre for Mental Health Services. The survey should meant the availability of both privately and publicly funded treatment services for gamblers. This should include a count of treatment slots for gambling, how many in a given period are in treatment for gambling problems alone or for multiple disorders that include problem gambling, a demographic profile of those receiving treatment, an assessment of the level of the gambling disorder and the description of the services they are receiving. It will identify barriers to treatment such as lack of insurance coverage, exclusion of treatment for pathological gambling from HML into the private insurance policies, segmentation or the lack of availability for treatments including lack of qualified treatment providers. 8.8 SAMHSA or another appropriate agency should initiate treatment outcome studies conducted by scientists in the treatment research field such studies should include formal treatment, self-help groups, gamblers, anomalies and natural recovery recesses. These studies should encompass general treatment population and should specifically include youth, women, elderly and minority gamblers. 8.9 The Commission recommends Congress request the National Science Foundation to establish multidisciplinary research program that will estimate the benefits and costs of illegal and separately each form of legal gambling allowed under federal, tribal and or state law, particularly lottery, casino, peri-mutual and convenience gambling. Further, the research programs should include estimates of the costs and benefits of legal and illegal internet gambling. Assuming Congress prohibits this form of gambling with certain exemptions, such a program at a minimum should address the following factors. Benefits associated with different kinds of legal and illegal gambling including increased income, creation of net new jobs and businesses, improvement in average wages and benefits, increased tax revenues, enhanced tourism and rising property values and reductions in unemployment if any. Costs associated with different kinds of legal and illegal gambling including problem and pathological gambling, increased crime, suicide, debt and bankruptcies, displacement of native inhabitants, traffic congestion, demand for more public infrastructure, demand for more public services from the courts, criminal, bankruptcy, divorce, and from schools, police and fire departments. The study should include benefits derived from costs, incurred not only in the host communities or states in which gambling facilities are allocated but also in so-called feeder communities or states in which a significant number of the gamblers live and about the patronized facilities in the host communities. 8.10 The commission recommends that Congress direct the National Institute of Justice or NIDJ or the appropriate agency to research what effect legal and illegal gambling has on property and of violent crime rates. Such research should also examine whether gambling-related criminal activity has increased enabling jurisdictions whether arrest or gambler lives and or works but does not gamble. 8.11 The commission recommends that Congress direct NIDJ, the Bureau of Justice Statistics or BJS or other appropriate agencies to add gambling components to ongoing studies of federal prison inmates, parolees and probationers who manifest disorders that frequently coexist with pathological gambling. 8.12 The commission recommends that Congress direct NIDJ or other appropriate agency to investigate and study the extent of adolescent participation in illegal gambling and all forms of legal gambling separately. Further, that the NIDJ focus on sports betting in the nation, work cooperatively with school authorities at high school and college levels and recommend what effective steps should be taken by federal, state and school authorities to avoid the corruption of collegiate and MHS water reverse study increases in adolescent gambling. 8.13 The commission recommends that Congress direct the Department of Labor or other appropriate agencies to research job quality and that gambling industry is measured by income levels, health insurance coverage and affordability, pension benefits, job security and other similar indicators. Their research should include a comparison between gambling jobs and a variety of communities and regions of the country. It should also compare job quality and availability in the gambling industry versus other comparable industries within those labor markets. Finally, it should also compare job quality and casinos with distinguishing characteristics such as those that derive a significant part of their revenues from non-gambling components like hotels, food and beverage service and shopping and entertainment often referred to as destination resorts versus those dependent almost healthy and gambling revenues. 8.14 The commission recommends that if Congress acts to prohibit internet gambling that it also acquire NIDJ or other appropriate agency, 12 months after the effective date of the enabling statute to measure its effectiveness for a period of one year. An estimate should be made of how much illegal internet betting continues despite the statutory prohibition. The effect is contributing to successful evasion of the prohibition should be described in detail. Recommendations to Congress' methods of quoting the channels used to evade the prohibition should be made. 8.15 The commission recommends that Congress direct the appropriate institutes within NIH to invite the appropriate applications for supplemental funds to issue a revision of the special program announcement for research applications to commence a study of the prevalence of problems and pathological gambling among gambling industry employees in all forms of legal gambling including without limitation, peri-mutual, lottery, casino and the feasible convenience of employees. 8.16 The commission recommends that the appropriate institutes conduct research to determine if an analysis of available gambling patron data derived from banks and other credit agencies can assist in the identification of problem and pathological gambas. 8.17 The commission respectfully recommends the state and tribal governments that they should authorize and fund every two years an objective study of the prevalence of problem and pathological gambas among their state's residents by a non-partisan research firm whose work meets PI review standards, specific focus on major sub-populations including youth, women, elderly and minority group gamblers should also be included. An estimate of prevalence among patrons at gambling facilities are outlet in each form of gambling should also be included. 8.18 The commission recommends the state and tribal governments that they should authorize and fund research programs for those who are more likely to become problem or pathological gamblers in their resident population. 8.19 The commission recommends the state and tribal governments that they should acquire as a condition of granting, of liaisons to operate a gambling facility or to sell goods or services in a gambling facility. Full cooperation in any research undertaken by the state needs that fulfill the legislative intent of the federal and states a two tree policy. 8.20 The commission recommends that state and tribal governments consider authorizing research to collect and analyze data that would access the foreign gambling related effects on customers and their families' resident and leisure sections. 9.10 The extent to which gambling-related debt is a contributing factor to personal bankruptcies. The extent to which gambling problems contribute to default domestic funds and child abuse neglect. The extent to which gambling problems contribute to incidents of suicide or suicidal behaviors. 10.20 The number of types and average monetary values of gambling-related crimes perpetrated for the primary purpose of game funds to continue gambling or to pay gambling debts. The extent to which practices of some gambling facilities provide fee alcohol to customers while gambling. The placement of cash advance credit machines close to the gambling area and the offer of similar inducements are likely to be significant factors in magnifying or exacerbating a gambling disorder. End of chapter 8