Gambling industry harms and parallels with the alcohol world
Will Prochaska – Coalition to End Gambling Ads
On this month’s podcast we spoke to Will Prochaska, Leader of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads and former Chief Executive of the charity Gambling with Lives. We discussed: What the gambling world looks like; The harms associated with gambling; Why New Labour’s liberalisation of gambling was "one of the worst things we did as a government" according to Alastair Campbell; The many similarities in how the alcohol and gambling industries behave; And the pros and cons of a levy on the gambling industry. On the podcast Mr Prochaska said: “The industry would like to present that only those people who are addicted are harmed. But actually, there are a whole host of lower level harms that aren’t given the importance they deserve.” On Wednesday 27 November, after our podcast recording, the government announced that it will introduce a £5 per spin limit to online slots betting for adults 25 and older, and a £2 limit per bet for 18 to 24-year-olds. Gambling minister Baroness Fiona Twycross also said that the government would introduce “the first legally mandated” tax on the betting industry, which will be used to fund research, prevention, and treatment of gambling harm. On Twitter Mr Prochaska said: “Today's announcement of a statutory levy on gambling companies is a hard won step in the right direction, but it must mark the beginning of a full government review of gambling’s place in society."