This June 2008 piece from Salon.com delves into how the predatory gambling industry uses some of its huge profits to fund scientific studies. The industry took a lesson from the tobacco industry and decided it was not going to claim that gambling addiction did not exist. Instead, it set up its own research arm to publish favorable research. The American Gaming Association, the predatory gambling industry’s top lobbying group, created the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) in 1996 and casinos make it a point to keep it flush with money. Recently,
the NCRG announced $7.6 million in new funding commitments for the next five years, including $2 million from Harrah’s, $2 million from MGM Mirage and $1 million from International Game Technology, the largest slot machine manufacturer in the world. Its board of directors includes executives from MGM Mirage, Harrah’s and the casino company Boyd Gaming Corp., as well as Judy Patterson, executive director of the American Gaming Association.”
The NCRG’s research has a common theme: that addicts of every kind, whether they are dealing with gambling or illegal drugs, have a similar brain chemistry and the casinos are not at fault for their problem. There is little research into the addictive nature of slots and other electronic gambling machines and why people who play video machines seem to get addicted faster.