Research Organization Addresses Problem Gambling At Meeting Of State Government Leaders
Jun 16, 1999
KANSAS CITY, MO—The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) has been invited by the Public Sector Gaming Commission to testify at its hearings in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 18-19. The commission is studying the social and economic impact of gaming as it pertains to state and local government.
The NCRG’s executive director, Christine Reilly, will discuss the findings of the nineteen research investigations currently funded by the NCRG, including the Harvard Medical School study of the prevalence of the disorder. She will also announce that the NCRG is planning a second national conference to follow up its successful 1999 conference on new directions in gambling research. The NCRG is the first and only nationwide funding source for scientific research on gambling disorders.
‘Our research, which will help us understand why approximately 1.5 percent of the adult population suffers from a gambling disorder, is crucial to developing effective prevention and treatment programs—areas of special concern to state and local government,’ Reilly said.
The idea for the NCRG’s second conference grew out of the deliberations of the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences. The NRC produced the report, Pathological Gambling, for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, created by Congress. The NRC report stated that past research on problem gambling was generally of limited scientific value and praised the more recent research, mostly funded by NCRG, as more rigorous and more reliable.
Reilly observed, ‘The soon-to-be-released reports of both the National Research Council and the National Gambling Impact Study recommend what the NCRG has already been doing for three years—supporting and promoting high quality research on gambling disorders.’
The National Center for Responsible Gaming, which is funded by casino companies, is affiliated with the University of Missouri, Kansas City. For more information, call 816-531-1878.
