STAY AWAY FROM LOTTO STOCKING STUFFERS

21 December 2007

Canadian provincial government lotteries warn against giving tickets to minors


Lottery tickets are a dangerous stocking stuffer, Canadian lottery officials have warned parents as the annual season of giving approaches.

Being both relatively cheap but acceptable as an opportunity to win large amounts of money, lottery tickets have apparently become a fave stocking filler at Christmas, with up to 30 percent of tickets being purchased and given to minors, a new University of McGill survey has shown.

The survey has prompted Loto-Quebec, the Atlantic Lottery Corp. and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. to team up with researchers at McGill University in urging parents to avoid giving their children lottery tickets as Christmas presents.

"Lottery tickets are for adults, not kids," OLG spokesperson Don Pister told Canadian Press this week. "There are a lot of things we restrict to certain ages in our society, and this is one of them."

The three gaming commissions have launched awareness campaigns aimed at warning parents about the perils of youth gambling.

Gambling experts caution though that introducing the youth of the nation to gamblikng at too early an age can have devastating implications.

"(Lottery tickets) are inexpensive, they make good stocking stuffers, but for kids they really give the wrong message and they can create potential problems," said Alissa Sklar, a senior researcher with McGill's International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours. "It's really important for parents, grandparents, caregivers to realise that lottery tickets, scratch cards and other lottery products are inappropriate gifts for those who are 18 and under."

McGill's researchers claim playing the lottery at a young age can lead to problem gambling. They point to studies which suggest the younger children are introduced to gambling, the greater their risk of developing an addiction.

"Gambling has become so normalised," Sklar said. "It's not on the radar screen of risks that people think of for their kids, like alcohol, drugs or tobacco. When parents model this and they give these things as gifts, they're basically saying 'Don't worry, this is safe for you to do.' "

It is illegal in most provincial jurisdictions for minors to buy, or even cash in, lottery tickets. But according to Sklar, 30 percent of children in Canada have received lottery tickets or scratch cards as gifts.

The number is alarming for Sklar, given that youth gambling appears to be on the rise and as many as 30 percent of Canadian teens gamble on a weekly basis.

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