Boozing and losing: the relationships between alcohol and gambling

There are many parallels between alcohol and gambling. At the level of the individual, gambling and alcohol problems tend to co-occur. Explanations have generally argued that alcohol consumption increases impulsivity and hence gambling behaviour, although both laboratory and naturalistic studies have provided mixed conclusions in this regard. At the population level, gambling and alcohol consumption share a set of social and spatial determinants that influence the distribution of harms. One of the main challenges to implementing effective public health measures is the political power wielded by so-called ‘Big Alcohol’ and ‘Big Gambling’, both of which try to place responsibility on the individual rather than with the broader availability of these forms of dangerous consumption.