Illicit drug use and problem gambling

Peter Ferentzy; W J Wayne Skinner; Flora I Matheson

doi:10.1155/2013/342392

Illicit drug use and problem gambling

ISRN Addict. 2013 Aug 25:2013:342392. doi: 10.1155/2013/342392. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Peter Ferentzy¹, W J Wayne Skinner², Flora I Matheson³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2S1.
² Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2S1 ; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 8th Floor, 250 College Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 1R8 ; Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1V4.
³ Centre for Research on Inner City Health, The Keenan Research Centre, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5B 1W8 ; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Room G1 06, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada M4N 3M5 ; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Health Science Building, 6th Floor, 155 College Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5T 3M7.

Abstract

Problem gambling, substance use disorders, and their cooccurrence are serious public health concerns. We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature to understand the present state of the evidence on these coaddictions. Our main focus was illicit drug use rather than misuse of legal substances. The review covers issues related to gambling as a hidden problem in the illicit drug use community; prevalence, problem gambling, and substance use disorders as kindred afflictions; problem gambling as an addiction similar to illicit drug use; risk factors and problems associated with comorbidity, and gender issues. We end with some suggestions for future research.

Publication types

Review