Anti-Gambling Legislation Successful!
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 11:07 PM

Um, well, except the legislation is not passed as an explicit anti-gambling measure. Nevertheless, public smoking bans are reliable in decreasing gambling (as long as those bans apply to on-site gambling venues). [Smoking bans put quite a crimp into bingo, too.] The most recent evidence comes from Down Unda (a curiously north-centric term), in New South Wales: "The ban on indoor smoking is ripping tens of millions from the pub and club industry, and poker machine turnover fell almost 20 per cent in hotels last month."

Of course, declines in gambling are always over-determined. Sure, there's the smoking ban, but there are also high petrol prices, wetter-than-usual-weather (which reinforces the smoking ban in that fewer bettors are desirous of stepping outside for a cigarette), internet-based competition, and (according to the linked article), high interest rates. This is the first time I have run across the claim that high interest rates deter gambling, but there does seem to be a certain logic to it.

Labels: Australia, gambling, poker, smoking ban

 
Designing Slot Machines for Harm Reduction
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 11:32 PM

The designers of slot machines are amazingly adept at prodding gamblers to have another spin. Are there any modifications that can be mandated for slot machines that would lower the harms that arise when gambling addicts interact with these machines, without appreciably diminishing the enjoyment of recreational gamblers? (Such mandates would be consistent with vice policy robustness.) Maybe. A November, 2005 article in International Gambling Studies reported on an Australian experiment which tweaked three features of slot machines, alone and in combination: (1) the maximum rate of play; (2) the maximum bet size; and (3) the maximum value of banknotes that could be read by the slot machine's banknote acceptor. (Previously it has been shown that allowing slot machines to accept banknotes directly (instead of coins or tokens or some such contrivance) is a good way to increase the amount that gamblers spend. Allowing smoking, too, seems to help.) As it turned out, most gamblers didn't even notice the different set-ups of the machines. (Each gambler played a control machine and a tweaked version.) Another finding was that problem gamblers -- after they played, the participants filled out a standard survey designed to uncover troubled gambling behaviours -- received less enjoyment from playing, relative to non-problem gamblers. Smaller bet limits combined with lower denominations for bill acceptors didn't appreciably reduce gambler satisfaction. There was a small decrease in enjoyment associated with playing slower machines. Nevertheless, there was no difference in players' reported interests in continuing to play the control or tweaked machines. In some settings, problem gamblers preferred lower maximum bets, even when recreational gamblers did not -- as if the problem gamblers are sophisticated about their control problems, and appreciate machine alterations that help them combat those problems or lower the harm from succumbing.

Labels: Australia, gambling, harm reduction, robustness, slot machine

 
Swedish Alcohol Restrictions Lose Again at the EU
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 10:45 PM

It took a week for the news to reach Vice Squad, but once again, the Swedish prohibition on personal imports of alcohol ordered over the internet and received via the mail has been found to violate the free trade provisions of the EU. The European Court of Justice decision was a near-replay of a similar case from June, so the result was not surprising. The CEO of Sweden's state retail monopoly claims not to be worried, because internet sales currently are tiny (whereas personally bringing alcohol from abroad is a major alcohol source in Sweden). But now that mail-order alcohol deliveries to homes can no longer be confiscated -- assuming that the high Swedish excise taxes are remitted -- I wouldn't be surprised to see increased popularity for that channel of alcohol distribution.

In an unrelated but unusually upbeat alcohol story, a man was restored to health in Australia a couple months ago, it has just been reported, in part by feeding him vodka via a nasal drip at a rate of 3 drinks per hour. Alcohol was needed to combat a poison, and the hospital ran out of pharmaceutical ethanol, so staff members bought a case of vodka. Finally, a small upside to the suppression of the Russian press -- if this story got out in Russia, there's no telling the mischief that could result.

Labels: alcohol, Australia, EU, free trade, Sweden

 
Local Alcohol Prohibitions in Alaska, Australia
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 12:31 AM

Many Alaskan native communities in rural Alaska are officially dry. Indeed, they are drier than the US was during Prohibition (and drier than typical dry counties or municipalities elsewhere in the current US), as they have outlawed possession of alcohol. And these prohibitions might even "work". Researcher Paul Gruenewald (as quoted in this article), notes that “Although national prohibitions on alcohol are generally ineffective, and in terms of crime, counter-productive, local prohibitions can be very effective in reducing harms related to alcohol.” But even these prohibitions are being enforced with an extraordinary reliance upon informants, as a recent item in JuneauEmpire.com's Alaska Digest indicates:

FAIRBANKS - A tip line set up to try and bust bootleggers is heightening the police presence at Fairbanks International Airport, where alcohol and drugs are sneaked into rural Alaska aboard small planes.

The toll-free line was established in April. So far, airport police have received 40 tips.

The toll-free line, (877) TIP4FIA, is credited with nearly doubling the number of contacts officers make with passengers suspected of carrying illegal cargo. Three ounces of cocaine; up to eight gallons of beer and whiskey; and a pound and a half of marijuana have been confiscated, Officer Robert Dickerson said.

Australia has instituted some alcohol bans in Aboriginal areas, but recently the Prime Minister announced plans to take things much further in the federally-controlled Northern Territory. Specifically, alcohol and hard-core porn are both slated to be banned.

Labels: alcohol, Australia, policing, pornography, Prohibition

 
Australian Ecstasy Use
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 1:09 AM

Australia leads the world in the consumption of ecstasy, according to this article. (Thanks for the pointer from the Alcohol and Drugs History Society.) Naturally, the widespread ecstasy use is causing some concern. What it isn't causing, however, is an over-the-top police response. Indeed, undercover officers stay away from raves:

Questioned on the use of undercover officers at rave parties and nightclubs, Mr Overland said police no longer went into these premises to make drug arrests. "We have found from past experience they can be quite volatile and doing that can actually cause more problems than it solves."

What, an accounting of the relative costs and benefits matters in selecting among anti-drug policing strategies? Once such an approach takes hold, there is no telling where it might lead...

PS -- The loyal Vice Squad reader might have noticed that our long national nightmare of Vice Squad dormancy was declared over at the beginning of 2007. Nevertheless, things will be a bit quiet for a week, as we expand our horizons.

Labels: Australia, ecstasy

 
Keystone Canine Cops
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 8:52 PM

Can't really blame the dogs this time, though. Seems that they were trained to find, er, talcum powder. In Australia, a pouch of the powder was accidentally labelled as cocaine, and used in sniffer dog training. Yes, a dog "alert" now constitutes probable cause to search you for that fresh, just-showered feeling.

Thanks to a friend of Vice Squad for the pointer; I see that Ken at Crim Law was on top of this one, too.

Labels: Australia, cocaine, dogs, search

 
Youth and Games
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 6:38 PM

The youthful Vice Squad member and research assistant, Ryan Monarch, brings us word of the video game "Narc." Unlike real life, in Narc, the police officer might be corrupt, and illicit drug use might have some benefits. For this offense, Narc has been banned in -- well, just guess. Hint: It's not Afghanistan, or Iraq (at least not yet -- or maybe, at least I haven't learned of those bans yet.) Give up? OK, it's Australia (really), which I understand is also thinking of banning alcohol.

Are you worried what fate holds for someone who joins Vice Squad while still a youth? See for yourself this Thursday, April 28, when Ryan appears on Wheel of Fortune. (Nope, I am not making this part up, either.) In Chicago, I have been reliably informed, it airs at 6:30PM CDT.

Labels: Australia, drugs, policing

 
Electronic Gaming Machines
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 5:26 PM

Vice Squad has an established, long-term interest in slot machines. Fueling our compulsion is a review article in the January issue of Addiction. The article is "Electronic Gaming Machines: Are They the 'Crack-Cocaine' of Gambling?", and it is written by Nicki Dowling, David Smith, and Trang Thomas. Here is a more-or-less random sample of tidbits drawn from the article.

The majority of gaming machines across the world are not slots, but pachinko machines. These machines, especially popular in Japan, have lower play rates and lower maximum bets than do typical slots or video lottery terminals ("high-intensity gaming machines"). Most of the world's slots (er, high-intensity gaming machines) are located in the US, but in per-capita terms, Australia is unsurpassed. The per-adult frequency of such machines is more than twice as high in Australia as it is in the US. Per-capita expenditure on electronic gaming machines in the late 1990s was about $420 in Australia, and between $80 and $160 in the US, UK, Canada, and New Zealand.

Did you ever wonder if those virtual reels spinning on modern slot machines actually are like mechanical reels, in the sense that the relative position of the symbols is fixed? Turns out they are: "the symbols on any given reel are always in the same relative position on every 'spin' [reference omitted]."

The answer to the question in the title of the article concerning the relative addictiveness of electronic gaming machines is "not proven". Now researchers conduct more-or-less controlled trials, trying to determine what features of a machine render it more reinforcing. Machines that accept banknotes tend to do much better (in terms of collecting bets) than machines without bill acceptors.

Labels: addiction, Australia, gambling, slot machine

 
Brothel Valuation
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 4:50 PM

How much is this centrally-located Melbourne brothel worth? More than 8 million Australian dollars, apparently.

Labels: Australia, prostitution

 
Alcohol Harm Reduction
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 3:12 PM

Don't you just hate it when you have a couple of drinks and the next thing you know you are calling your old flame with a slurred offer of reconciliation? Worry no more, your problems are over: "An Australian phone company is offering customers the chance to blacklist numbers before heading out for a night on the town so they can reduce the risk of making any embarrassing, incoherent late-night calls."

Labels: alcohol, Australia, harm reduction

 
A Big Mac, Fries, and I'll Raise You...
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 6:34 PM

Have you ever heard of NeoPets? I certainly hadn't, but they are virtual pets that you have to tend to one way or another, I suppose, sort of like those Tamaguchi things from a few years back. And they apparently aren't entirely virtual, either; here's a description from the Amazon page of one particular NeoPet, a Mynci:

NeoPets are the latest in the virtual pet craze based on the characters from the immensely popular Internet site, neopets.com. Just like the Internet, these 4-inch high "pets" come alive at the sound of your voice and they respond to the tone of your voice with sounds, movements and lights. There are over thirty different sounds including laughs and giggles for each figure. Myncis are lovable thrill seekers who enjoy exploring tall trees and visiting other hard to reach places. A Mynci has cheeks that light-up and a head that nods when it turns from right to left. Oh, and it can also wiggle its ears... Colors May Vary.

So when I wasn't paying attention, NeoPets apparently took the US by storm. But why mention NeoPets on a vice policy blog? Is it because of their addictive qualities? Er, no. In Australia, it seems, McDonalds has been offering a NeoPet with their Happy Meals. Oh, so this is a story about childhood obesity. Er, no. It turns out that one way to keep the little rascals in good health is to win at some gambling-style games when you go to the NeoPets website. Lose, and your pet will have to turn to virtual charity for sustenance. Is the lesson here that to be a good pet owner, you should be a skilled gambler? Fortunately, the site offers instruction on how to play poker.

Some parents are a bit peeved, according to this story from an Australian television station. Here's a sample:

...the Neopets website advertised on McDonald's packaging and website has left parents such as Michelle Stiebel far from happy.

Among the activities the site offers are virtual pokies, roulette games, and card games where one of the cute characters teaches children the rules of poker and blackjack.

As Michelle's son Harley explains, you need to gamble to raise points to feed your virtual Neopets. He says if you don't gamble up enough points to feed your pet, it goes to the "orphanage". Players who don't win enough points gambling to buy food actually have to send their Neopets to a "virtual soup kitchen".

Labels: Australia, gambling, internet, poker, teens

 
Smoking Ban Competition Has New Winner
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 8:47 AM

Public smoking bans have forced smokers outside of bars and restaurants in Dublin and New York City. But that treatment, really, is too good for lovers of the noxious tobacco plant -- after all, we non-smokers still have to see these fuming cretins, and occasionally walk near them. Proximity to such pitch doth defile. Fortunately, the local council in an affluent Sydney neighborhood has stepped up to the challenge, by banning "smoking within 20m of al fresco dining areas on public land. The ban also extends to outdoor areas near entrances to public buildings and their balconies." They seem proud to think that they lead Australia, and perhaps the world, in their intolerance of public smoking, according to this article in Australia's Herald-Sun.

Labels: Australia, smoking ban

 
Pot Smoking Parents
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 7:28 PM

Here's a thoughtful little essay out of Australia about parents in their 40s and 50s who still like to smoke a little pot--but who do not want their kids to emulate them, or to know. One interesting point: "Drugs education in primary school, effective at least temporarily in turning children into anti-drug zealots, compounds parents' guilt."

Labels: Australia, marijuana, teens

 
A New Vice-Related Ban
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 7:10 PM

I imagine there is one every day; today's news is out of New South Wales, Australia. Remember those alcohol inhalers that Vice Squad mentioned a couple of times (April 4 and April 10)? They have been banned in New South Wales by the "Gaming Minister." He doesn't seem to have much evidence that a vapourizing machine (that permits the inhalation) has done any harm, but, according to the linked article, he believes that such a machine "sends an irresponsible message about alcohol consumption." The Minister has further comments that seem to suggest he doesn't think of drinking alcohol as drug use: 'Inhalation or snorting of alcohol is basically synonymous with drug use and that kind of practice should not be encouraged.'

Labels: Australia, inhaler, vaporizer

 
New South Wales Parliament Member Speaks Truthfully...
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 6:14 PM

...and hence had to back off from her statement. She was speaking about how the drug trade, particularly heroin, is troubling a neighborhood in a suburb of Sydney: "Clearly if there's not so much money in drugs and they're not illegal then you wouldn't have a problem." But the MP didn't have to back off too far, as the Sydney Lord Mayor "called for the decriminalisation of heroin and a safe injecting room in the suburb." Memo to Drug Tsar John Walters: they're in danger of slipping off the plantation Down Under.

Labels: Australia, harm reduction, heroin

 
Private Regulation of Vice
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 3:59 PM

Some people are afraid that drug legalization will undermine the extremely negative attitudes that many individuals have towards the currently illicit drugs. But the social disapproval of a vice can survive legalization. Alcohol is actively disapproved of by large numbers of Americans, just to take one obvious example. Prostitution provides a second example. Back in November Vice Squad reported on Heidi Fleiss and a legal brothel in Melbourne, Australia, with which Ms. Fleiss is affiliated. Now the brothel, The Daily Planet, appears to be up for sale, according to this article in the New Zealand Herald. Why are the current owners looking to sell?: "...while sex may sell, it scares off the investors and bankers Australia's first listed brothel property owner says it needs to spur its growth plans....'While the Daily Planet brand was a great launch platform for us, we've had a lot of resistance from shareholders and advisers because of the perception that we're in the prostitution business,' chief executive Andrew Harris said." It isn't as if the bankers and stockholders are afraid of all forms of commercial sex, however -- those "growth plans" consist of an intention to expand their strip club operations. "Harris said brokers, investors and lawyers did not have the same compunction about strip bars as with owning a brothel."

Labels: Australia, dancing, prostitution

 
Alcohol Updates
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 5:17 PM

(1) Alcohol controls have been significantly tightened in Aboriginal areas of Australia in recent months, as the loyal Vice Squad reader knows. In some places, the amounts of alcohol that can be stored at home are limited. But even stricter rules went into effect today in an Aboriginal region in the Australian northeast. Here's a brief excerpt from this Scotsman.com article: "Under the new restrictions, people can carry only one carton, or 24 cans, of light to mid-strength beer and two litres (4.23 pints) of wine in their cars on each journey, and are forbidden from stockpiling alcohol at home."

(2) Arizona has officially adopted a law changing the hour of its "last call for alcohol.". In a few months time, bars and restaurants will be able to serve alcohol until 2AM, with patrons allowed to continue imbibing until 2:30. The old time limits were 1AM for sales and 1:15 for consumption. Vice Squad has previously examined some of the reasoning behind the change.

(3) OK, this one is not an update, in that Vice Squad hasn't mentioned it before. More than 100 students at Ball State University were arrested at the beginning of this month during a crackdown on underage drinking. (For one raid on a fraternity house party, the town (Muncie, Indiana) mayor joined the raiding party.) Now their court dates are upon us, and many of the students are contesting the charges. One student who pleaded not guilty indicated (in the linked article) that she was afraid a conviction would prevent her from getting a job as a teacher after graduation. While Vice Squad has not mentioned the Ball State contretemps in the past, I have lamented the unreasonably high drinking age in the US, and in February noted a similar development at the University of South Dakota.

Labels: alcohol, Australia, closing hours, teens

 
Two Quick Updates, One Concerning Tobacco, the Other, Alcohol
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 5:22 PM

Tennessee is looking to tax "Little Tobacco" companies by 50 cents per pack to protect the state's revenue from the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement. This is simply the latest development in a long, long cycle of activity in state houses throughout America; one recent (yet, oddly, not the most recent) related Vice Squad post is here. An excerpt from the linked article: "The cost of many standard cigarette brands has gone up as a result of the lawsuit settlement, while these off-brands can be half the price. That means that not only are the state's children being enticed to buy cigarettes, less money comes into the state's coffers as large manufacturers' profits drop, said [the bill's sponsor]."

The alcohol update concerns the tight new anti-alcohol restrictions in Aboriginal areas in Australia. First the new controls brought "Winegate," a political scandal involving a government plane that landed in the prohibition zone...with a wine bottle on board! Now an Aboriginal political leader is in trouble after a can of beer was tossed, so the accusation goes, from his car as it approached a police roadblock.

Labels: alcohol, Australia, Master Settlement Agreement, tax, tobacco

 
Building Support for Gambling Prohibition
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 1:23 PM

The friends of legal vices tend to do more to bring them into disrepute than do their avowed foes. Today brings two gambling stories that are unlikely to play well with the median voter. The first concerns a British man who staked his entire wealth on one spin of the roulette wheel. (How do we know it was his entire wealth? Well, he signed an affidavit to that effect -- you see, it was a made-for-media event, with the spin being broadcast on Britain's Sky One.) The punter plopped down his $135,000 or so on red at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, and his choice proved fortuitous. So, he doubled his money, though taxes will take a significant bite. This AP story does not mention the taxes, and is misleadingly headlined "Man Bets Life Savings, Wins $270,600" -- his pre-tax winnings were only half of that amount. Nor is the story tempered with any discussion of why this might not be such a good idea. We look forward to the torrent of copycats, the majority of whom will not be so lucky.

[Update: Will Baude at Crescat picked up on this post -- while adding a helpful dollop of Kipling -- and has motivated me to make a clarification. My concern with this stunt is not so much with the gambler in question, but rather with the casino's willingness to go along with the publicity. I guess I am not happy about the media sponsorship either, but I have come to expect that. The casino should not have allowed the filming of this wager nor been an active participant in any way, I think; but the last paragraph of the AP story indicates that the casino essentially lent its imprimatur to this potentially perilous frolic. I believe that promotional controls that would bar such active participation by casinos might be appropriate, though I might also hope for better sense from the casino management itself.]

Incidentally, a bet on red on a typical roulette wheel in a US casino has a probability of winning of about 47.4% -- there are 18 red numbers, 18 black numbers, and a zero and a double zero. Europe dispenses with the double zero, so the probability of winning a bet on red (or on black, of course), is higher in Europe, at .486.

Gambling is much more popular in Australia than in Europe or in the US, and of course, there are many people in Australia and elsewhere who are afflicted with gambling problems. Gamblers Anonymous tries to help those who find that their gambling has become problematic. Unfortunately, visitors to the website of the Australian branch of GA have been met with pop-up advertisements for -- you guessed it -- casinos. (More fuel for my ongoing rant that advertising controls often are a useful part of the regulatory regime governing legal vices.)

If the title of this post sounds familiar, it is because just a few posts ago there was a similar headline involving alcohol.

Labels: Australia, Britain, casino, gambling, Las Vegas, marketing

 
Aussie Alcohol Developments
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 11:39 PM

Just wanted to pass along three quick alcohol-related stories from Australia....

(1) Inhaling alcohol. Just in case consuming alcohol in the normal manner is not dangerous enough for you, now there's the possibility of inhaling it. (Here's another short report on the inhalation device from some months ago, out of Bristol, UK.)

(2) Lockhart River, an aboriginal area of Australia, enacted strict alcohol controls six months ago. It looks as if alcohol-related harms have declined significantly under the beefed-up restrictions. Last month, the new controls led to an unlikely political scandal ("Winegate") when a government plane with a bottle of red wine on board landed at the community airport -- under the restrictions, alcohol is not allowed at the airport.

(3) Vice Cream. You can now procure non-alcoholic but vodka-flavoured ice cream in Australia. I would like to claim credit for the name "Vice Cream," but actually, it is the manufacturer's appellation for a range of similar products.

Labels: alcohol, Australia, inhaler, vaporizer