The future of gambling in the United Kingdom

For most people gambling is an enjoyable, if occasional, experience. For a minority, however, gambling leads to debilitating problems that harm the people close to them and the wider community. Problem gambling includes a range of behaviours that compromise, disrupt, or damage an individual's personal, family, or vocational pursuits, and, in its most severe forms, it has been recognised as a psychiatric disorder.1 A recent meta-analysis found that between 1% and 2% of adults aged 18 and over in the United States and Canada are pathological gamblers and an additional 2% to 4% of adults were classed as problem gamblers.2 Prevalence rates in Australia and New Zealand are similar.3 4 Problem gamblers and pathological gamblers are more likely than others in the general population to have been divorced, had physical and psychological problems, lost a job, been on welfare, been declared bankrupt, and been imprisoned.5 The availability …