NCRG Annual Conference Examines "Syndrome Model" of Gambling Addiction
The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) will hold its fifth annual conference on gambling and addiction Dec. 5-7 in Las Vegas. Themed "Common Causes, Managing Consequences," the conference will offer educational sessions highlighting recent scientific research that suggests substance use and addictive behavior disorders might be distinctive expressions of the same underlying "syndrome."
As in 2003, the conference, held at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, will feature two distinct tracks, one aimed at examining advances in addiction research and treatment, and a second offering practical applications for industry, regulators, attorneys and elected officials.
The "Scientific and Clinical" conference track — co-sponsored by the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, a program at Harvard Medical School's Division on Addictions — will address the causes of addictive disorders, drug treatments for gambling and substance use disorders, treating co-occurring disorders, and addiction in the age of terrorism and stress. Featured speakers include Howard Shaffer, director of the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School; Robert Ladouceur, professor of psychology at Laval University; and Lisa Najavits, director of the Trauma Research Program in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Program at McLean Hospital.
The "Government and Industry" track will offer sessions on health risks for casino employees, problem gambling issues in tribal casinos, challenges of operationalizing the AGA Code of Conduct, and regulating gaming and its potential health consequences in a global economy. Featured speakers in this track include Peter Dean, chairman of the Gaming Board for Great Britain; Timothy Hinkley, president and chief operating officer of Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.; and Nelson Westrin, vice chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.
The conference also will offer several plenary sessions on what genetics and brain scans reveal about gambling and substance use disorders, the history of luck in America, and gambling and health in Indian Country. The conference culminates with a "Town Hall" meeting providing a forum for discussion among all attendees. Featured plenary speakers include T.J. Jackson Lears, Ph.D., the Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers University; Spero Manson, professor in psychiatry and head of the Division of American Indian and Alaska Native Programs at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; state Sen. Lana Oleen, majority leader of the Kansas Senate; and Charles Wellford, chairman of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of Pathological Gambling.
"The concept of an addiction syndrome has significant implications for academics and health care professionals, as well as representatives from the gaming industry and government," Shaffer said. "Looking at the shared causes of addictive behaviors prompts us to consider new ways of studying and treating pathological gambling and related addictive disorders, which could lead to more effective treatment strategies at the clinical level as well as better informed responsible gaming activities in the gaming community."
For more information or to register for the fifth annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, visit the NCRG Web site or contact Marcie Granahan, NCRG executive director, at 202-530-4704. Discounted registration is available until Nov. 19.
