Sting 1: May 2000
One of the biggest problems in Quebec, as in most other jurisdictions, is the growing number of adolescents who are experiencing gambling problems. They are developing problems at three to four times the rate of adults, according to a study by Jeffery Derevensky and Rina Gupta of McGill University (1998). This appears to be consistent with other research across Canada and the United States.
In December, 1999, Viva Consulting was invited by the National Assembly of Quebec to participate at a commission to discuss amending the law governing the sale of lottery tickets to minors. Along with experts like Drs. Derevensky, Gupta and Ladouceur, we were able to convince the government to amend the law on lotteries to prohibit the sale of tickets to minors.
We stated at the hearing that in order to test the law Viva Consulting could, and would, send minors (with parental consent) to attempt to purchase lottery tickets. Ninety days after the law came into effect, an experiment was carried out, under our direction, to test vendors in relation to the amended law. We engaged the services of two Montreal area high school students (one male, one female), both sixteen years of age, neither of whom appeared older than their age.
While a reporter from the local English newspaper, Montreal Gazette, looked on from a close distance, the students attempted to buy tickets without being challenged for identification.
The vendors were selected in a manner that would not discriminate, more than one in each category of retailers. We visited Loto-Quebec booths in shopping malls and retailers in supermarkets, pharmacies, service stations, bakeries, and convenience stores (both franchised and family owned).
The two students were able to purchase a variety of lottery tickets from twenty-five of the locations. They were asked for proof of age by only six of the thirty-one vendors. This translates to less than twenty per cent of the retailers who obeyed the law, a full three months after it had come into effect.
Our initial intent was to notify the police and ask that they charge offenders through the judicial system, according to the new law. Bill 84 provides for fines of $300 to $2 000 for a first offence, but the purpose of our experiment was to draw attention to this law, not to cause financial hardship to the retailers. Therefore, we decided to first give Loto-Quebec Security the opportunity to deal with these matters internally.
A list of the offending retailers was provided to Loto-Quebec and each establishment was first visited by an inspector and then sent an official warning letter. Vendors found in default of the law for a second time would lose their permit for one month. Third time offenders would lose their permit permanently.
Viva Consulting was assured that in conjunction with our action, Loto-Quebec inspectors will begin to monitor vendors closely commencing at the start of the next school year and will prosecute offenders accordingly. This was our goal when we initiated this project: that the sale of lottery tickets to minors becomes the exception, rather than the rule. Loto-Quebec did provide us with the original documentation delivered to all their retailers in January, clearly outlining the changes to the law. We are satisfied with the steps that Loto-Quebec had taken at that time, but it was obvious that the large majority of those retailers had chosen to ignore the law. Perhaps this was due, in part, to the fact that a similar law had existed in Quebec for more than two years regarding the sale of tobacco products to minors, but had never been enforced.
