International Center for Responsible Gaming

rdf:langString International Center for Responsible Gaming

rdf:langString The International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG), formerly known as the National Center for Responsible Gambling (NCRG), is an American nonprofit group that funds scientific research on gambling addiction. It was founded in 1996 as a separate 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The group is a wing of the American Gaming Association, the casino industry's main trade group. The mission of this organization is to help people who suffer from gambling disorders. The ICRG does that by conducting scientific research into pathological and youth gambling, as well as encouraging the application of new research findings to improve prevention, diagnostic, intervention, and treatment strategies. It was renamed the International Center for Responsible Gambling on January 1, 2020, to reflect its broader scope, including countries other than the United States. The ICRG (then known as the NCRG) founded the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders (IRPGRD) in 2000. Since the establishment of the organization, almost $25 million has been committed to the ICRG. As of 2008, the IRPGRD was dependent on casino funding, channeled through the NCRG. This arrangement has led some critics to question the independence of the IRPGRD's research. IRPGRD executive director Christine Reilly told Salon.com that the institute's contract with the NCRG stipulates that the industry not interfere with its work. However, Salon concluded that: While NCRG leaders say they fund independent science, it's not a coincidence that the science aligns so well with the interests of the casinos. It's not that gambling executives are tampering with research findings, or scientists are skewing results. Rather, gaming executives are drawing extravagant conclusions from the studies. By trumpeting these conclusions, the gaming industry is helping casinos gain a legal foothold across the country -- and covering up the ways casinos profit from gambling addiction.