Advice about how to gamble “responsibly” is widely promoted in many jurisdictions. However, until now, there has been no evidence-based, specific advice for people who gamble who want to reduce their risk of gambling harms. In 2016, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction began the first large scale international, comprehensive, multimodal project to develop evidence based Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines (LRGGs). Borrowing the same collaborative, evidence-driven approach used to develop the nation’s Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, the LRGG initiative produced a set of workable, evidence-based quantitative limits on gambling behavior to help people make informed decisions about their gambling. This project included collaboration with researchers in eight other countries, analysis of epidemiological data from over 60,000 people who gamble, consultation with a pan- Canadian, multi-sectorial advisory committee made up of over 20 members, input from over 10,000 regular people who gamble via a national online survey, and qualitative data obtained from focus groups and interviews.
This presentation from David Hodgins, PhD and Matthew Young, PhD described key deliverables from the LRGG project including the lower-risk limits for expenditure, frequency and number of types of games. It also presented a self-assessment quiz, a suite of posters and other knowledge mobilization tools that are freely available to those who with use or promote the guidelines (https://www.gamblingguidelines.ca).
Sponsored by the Northwest and Pacific Southwest ATTCs and the Western States Node of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN).
