• Thunder Bay's Source, Friday, October 20, 2006 12:15 PM

The Canadian province of Ontario will introduce legislation calling for a ban on advertising online gambling sites. According to Government Services Minister Gerry Phillips, the sites are illegal and thus shouldn't be advertised in the province. He also cites a recent study that suggests Internet gambling is up dramatically among Ontario's young adults.

While traditional gambling is illegal under the country's Criminal Code, provinces have the right to operate lottery games, casinos and horse racing. But the legality of online casinos--run from servers based in foreign countries--is less clear. And some say banning advertising of online gaming sites will do little to stem the tide.

For instance, Dr. Nigel Turner, of Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says provincially operated slot machines are a much greater threat to the public. And lawyer Danielle Bush notes that a similar ban on pharmaceutical advertising in Canada doesn't stop American magazines full of prescription drug ads from being sold here.

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