Nevadans Exhibit High Rate of Problem Gambling
The first in-depth study to determine the rate of pathological or problem gambling in Nevada's residents was released last week. Gemini Research prepared the report for a Las Vegas panel on problem gambling, and the results are worrisome.
According to Gemini's report, between 41,000 and 64,000, or 6.4 percent of the total Nevada population, can be classified as "probable pathological gamblers." An additional 32,700 to 53,000 residents are rated as "current problem gamblers."
Other results from the study, which was conducted by phoning 2,200 homes and then carrying out 733 follow-up interviews, indicate higher prevalence of problem gambling among people living in the state for 10 years or less, men between the ages of 18-34, people with a high-school education or less, people with incomes of less than $35,000 and those employed in the gaming industry. Another finding two-thirds of adolescents had gambled before the age of 21.
Nevada is one of the few states to support legalized gambling but not provide state funding for problem gambling treatment or research. The Gemini study was aimed at determining whether such programs are necessary.
Kiwi Youth Exhibit High Rate of Gambling Addiction
Research by the Problem Gambling Foundation in New Zealand indicates that many of the country's high school students are either already addicted to or close to being addicted to gambling.
The research suggests 14 percent of students aged 14 to 18 showed signs of problem gambling. Reasons cited for the high occurrence of problem gambling among teens include the accessibility of gambling (70 percent of New Zealanders had access to some form of gambling activity within a 15-minute walk) and the lack of an age limit for playing pokie machines.
The survey, conducted at six Auckland-area high schools, is based on 547 responses from kids aged 13 to 18 years. The findings also include comparisons to adult gambling behavior. For example, one in four adolescents played cards for money, compared to one in 30 adults. Additionally, one in 25 students gambled on the Internet compared to one in 100 adults.
Betting on World Cup in Bangkok Expected to be Huge
An opinion poll conducted by Assumption University and KSC Internet asked 1,769 people in Bangkok over age 15 about their betting behaviors for the World Cup.
Figures released this week estimate that 396,506 residents of Bangkok will wager nearly 9.3 billion baht (US$214,780,612) on the upcoming World Cup matches to be held in Japan and South Korea.
Pollsters also asked respondents how they feel about legalized soccer betting; 35.9 percent were against it and 27.8 percent were in favor of it.
England's soccer team is favored by 60.7 percent, indicating that's the team Bangkokians will cheer for, but 24.3 percent think France will win the sporting event.
Privacy on the Rebound
A new study commissioned by the Progress & Freedom Foundation sets out to determine whether online privacy policies are headed in the right direction by evaluating the privacy policies of the 100 top e-commerce sites as well as 300 randomly chosen smaller sites as of December 2001.
Of the top 100 sites, 84 percent now collect personal information, as opposed to 96 percent in 2000. The sample of smaller sites also lowered the proportion of those collecting personal information in the same time period, from 87 percent to 74 percent.
The authors of the report noted, "The most surprising finding of this study is that commercial Web sites are, by virtually every measure, collecting less information than they were two years ago. Not only do fewer sites collect [personal identifying information], those that do collect less, and dramatically fewer sites are utilizing third-party cookies."
Growth of Internet Usage Likely to Stall in Argentina
Wired Magazine recently reported on a survey by Prince & Cooke forecasting the growth in Internet use by Argentineans in 2002.
After exhibiting rapid growth in 2000 and 2001, Internet use in Argentina is predicted to grow by less than 10 percent in 2002 due to the economic and social crises affecting the country in recent months. Internet use increased by 100 percent in 2000 and a healthy 52 percent in 2001 to reach a total of approximately 3.6 million users in the country at the end of 2001.
Price & Cooke originally estimated 2002 growth to be 10 percent, but downgraded the forecast to less than 10 percent because of the country's economic climate.