FUTURES AT STAKE: YOUTH, GAMBLIN

The widespread legalization of gambling across the U.S. has produced concerns for serious social, economic, and health problems. For the first time in this country, an entire generation of young people has reached adulthood within a context of approval and endorsement of gambling as a source of entertainment and recreation. Compared with their adult counterparts, these young people have evidenced a higher level of gambling related problems. In Futures at Stake, specialists in psychology, medicine, law, public health, economics, casino management, psychiatry, and criminal justice examine this problem from the perspective of their various disciplines, producing an intelligent, thought-provoking, and valuable survey of what is fast becoming a leading social-health problem across the nation.

The chapters range from discussions of the pathology and treatment of gambling addictions, the legal ramifications of youth gambling, and the social and economic impacts of this problem to the efforts of the casino industry to limit access and appeal to juveniles, future prospects of youth gambling, and possible ways to control the problem. Overall, Futures at Stake offers a broadly focused discussion of one of legalized gambling's ugliest and most damaging side-effects. The book is essential reading for health-care professionals, educators, casino-industry managers, and anyone interested in this growing threat to the nation's youth.

Howard J. Shaffer is associate professor and director of the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School, editor of The Journal of Gambling Studies, author of six books, 120 newspaper articles, and 100 journal articles and reviews. Elizabeth M. George is chief executive officer of the Minnesota-based American Academy of Health Care in Addictive Disorders, has served on the National Center for Responsible Gaming Advisory Board, and is associate editor for program features for the Journal of Gambling Studies.