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'Ludicrous': Advocates speak out against 24-hour slot machines

Currently slot machines can operate between 10 a.m. and 3 a.m. but the new rules would allow them to stay open around the clock.
0502 gambling file
The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) has changed rules for casinos to allow them to run 24-hour slot machines. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette

Gambling researchers and addictions advocates are speaking out against a move to allow VLTs to run around the clock.

Last week, the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis Commission said casinos will be able to apply to allow their slot machines to operate 24 hours per day. Previously, slot machines could only operate between 10 a.m. and 3 a.m.

Gisele Jubinville, a St. Albert resident and advocate on gambing addictions issues, said the move is dangerous for those suffering from gambling disorder.

“It’s ludicrous. It’s criminal,” Jubinville said.

Jubinville suffered from an addiction to gambling machines for over a decade. She realized she was addicted after years of gambling but it took another decade to break free of the addiction.

“(It took me) from 1999 to 2009 ... to end my addiction, nearly committing suicide,” Jubinville said.

Part of what helped her overcome her addiction was writing a book about gambling addiction.

“What helped me was to find out the truth about the machines and this is how I've helped others to end their addiction. It is not you who is sick, it is the machines that are making you sick,” Jubinville said.

Since then, she has had many people with similar struggles reaching out to her for support.

Jubinville said the move by AGLC will make it harder for people suffering from a gambling addiction to break their cycle and said it is more likely those people will be the ones taking advantage of the new slot machine hours.

David Hodgins, professor of psychology at the University of Calgary who studies gaming, said the few hours in the day where people were not allowed to play slot machines was a good harm reduction strategy.

“It can be very expensive and we know that people can get immersed in their play and lose track of time and lose track of how much they're spending,” Hodgins said.

“The general movement in the field is to really minimize the potential harms by protecting consumers."

Hodgins said one harm reduction strategy was to make those suffering from an addiction to sign off for several hours a day to reconsider their decisions, but now with the restrictions removed they may not have the opportunity.

“If you were to talk to people who were playing at that time of the day, the likelihood of them having a gambling problem is very high,” Hodkins said, noting there are people who work shift work who will also be there in the early hours of the morning.

Hodgins said gambling disorder impacts generally around one per cent of adults, but in Alberta the number is slightly higher.

“The Prairie provinces, (like) Saskatchewan and Alberta, tend to be (at the) high end in terms of the Canadian provinces, and that's in part related to the fact that gambling is so available here,” Hodgins said.

There are approximately 26 casinos in Alberta compared to around six in Ontario and a lot of the money those casinos are making comes from addicts.

“Profits disproportionately come from people with gambling problems,” Hodgins said.

Hodgins said it is estimated that anywhere from 30 to 60 per cent of the profits come from people who have gambling problems.


Jennifer Henderson

About the Author: Jennifer Henderson

Jennifer Henderson is the editor of the St. Albert Gazette and has been with Great West Media since 2015
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