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. Foreword by Thomas N. Cummings.

Edited by:

Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in the Division on Additions and is editor of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Matthew Hall is a research associate in the Division on Addictions, Harvard Medical School.

Joni Vander Bilt is research associate at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

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.