LYNN MOORE
The Gazette
Neither the association representing most Quebec lottery retailers nor Loto-Quebec expressed dismay yesterday after it was shown again that minors can easily circumvent the law to buy lottery tickets
During a Sunday-afternoon romp through west-end Montreal, a 15-year-old girl was able to buy lottery tickets at 33 of the 35 outlets she visited. Twenty of those 33 outlets had sold lottery tickets to minors during a similar test in May.
Sol Boxenbaum, the gambling critic who conducted the two tests, said the law doesn't protect young people from potential gambling problems and the lack of enforcement sends the message that laws are irrelevant.
"I do not agree that there is cause of concern," Loto-Quebec spokesman Jean-Pierre Roy said yesterday.
While Loto-Quebec staff will review Boxenbaum's data and visit the retailers involved, it will not engage in similar tests of the law.
"We are not trapping our retailers," Roy said.
Since the law came into effect on Feb. 1 last year, only 10 complaints from the public about the sale of lottery tickets to minors have been registered by Loto-Quebec and only four were found to have merit after investigation by security personnel, Roy said. Notices of violation were sent to those four retailers, Roy said.
People can also complain to the police, who may investigate and may present the case to a prosecutor who may pursue the matter in court, Roy noted.
A spokesman for the Association des Detaillants en Alimentation du Quebec, which represents the province's 10,000 depanneurs and grocery stores, said that the sale of lottery tickets to minors isn't widespread.
According to members' estimates "only one per cent" of the tickets sold in Quebec are sold to minors, Diane Hetu said. (Based on sales figures contained in Loto-Quebec's most recent annual report, that would translate into about $18 million worth of lottery tickets being sold to minors.)
Difficult to Check Ages
Retailers don't want to sell to minors but can't always ensure that every lottery customer is over 18 years of age, she said. For one thing, staff turnover is large and clerks are often young and inexperienced, she said. And it is often difficult to judge the age of young people, she said.
During public hearings before passage of the law - known as Bill 84 - her association objected to the law and pointed out that enforcement would be tough.
"We are (being asked) to be the only persons to control this problem," said Hetu, noting that it's not against the law for a minor to purchase tickets.
Both Hetu and Roy said that having such a law on the books gives retailers the legal right to refuse to sell to minors.
Under the law, which says that business must make "a reasonable effort" to verify the age of people who might be minors, outlets could face fines of $300 to $2,000 for a first offence and $600 to $6,000 for repeat offences.
Under Loto-Quebec's policy, a second offence would result in a 30-day suspension of the right to sell lottery tickets and a third offence would have that right permanently removed. First-time offenders receive a warning.
Both Hetu and Roy said they believe that the sale of lottery tickets to minors isn't perceived to be a problem by the public. Boxenbaum was angry at their bid "to downplay a major problem," noting that research indicates that young people have twice the chance of becoming pathological gamblers as their elders.
"It's not necessarily the $1 lottery ticket that causes problems, it's the (lotteries that involve betting on sports), he said.
