Cmaj Podcasts

Ontario’s expansion of online gambling and legalization of single-event sports betting were followed by a sharp rise in help-seeking for gambling problems, particularly among young men. A new CMAJ study, Help seeking for gambling problems following expansion of Ontario's online gambling market and legalization of single event sports betting, analyzes calls to Ontario's 24-hour mental health and addiction hotline before and after the 2022 policy changes. The findings suggest that increased accessibility, private-sector expansion, and in-play betting may be amplifying gambling-related harm.Dr. Daniel Myran, a family physician, research chair in family and community medicine at North York General Hospital, and co-author of the study, reports that hotline contacts among males aged 15 to 24 tripled after the market opened to private operators. By the end of the study period, more than 70% of callers cited online gambling. He describes how legalization of single-event sports betting and in-play betting re