Williams, co-ordinator of the Alberta Gaming Research Institute at the University of Lethbridge, will release a major study on all forms of gambling in Alberta later this year. But his call for more social responsibility features in the province’s VLTs comes in the wake of an announcement that the province is looking for 6,000 new terminals at a cost he estimates at $180 million.

In Edmonton, a spokesperson for Alberta’s liquor and gambling authority confirmed purchase of a whole new set of VLTs is planned, replacing six-year-old equipment that’s nearing the end of its life.

Although no purchase deadline has been announced, the period for "expressions of interest"from manufacturers closed Friday.

At about $30,000 per machine, Williams said in an interview, there’s no reason the upgraded equipment could not include the same protections offered citizens in many European nations.

By coupling player recognition hardware — similar to scanners already used in many airports — to a daily limit, he said Albertans who become VLT addicts won’t be able to lose nearly as much.

And by installing machines that take smaller bets, and offer smaller payouts, Williams said the government agency could dramatically cut the growth of VLT addiction in Alberta.

Most Albertans who play the machines do so responsibly, Williams suggested. But two to three per cent end up addicted — some of them losing their jobs, their homes, their marriages.

"It’s not how much or how often you bet," he explained. "It’s whether your gambling causes significant problems."

Alberta’s VLT machines already generate more government revenue than the province’s oil royalties, Williams pointed out. And addicted players pour in a large part of that money.

Alberta’s church groups and others have questioned the government’s role in creating those addicts.

Says Williams, "If you are going to be in such an unsavoury business, then you have a moral obligation to make those products as safe as you can."

Norway and a number of other European nations have done just that, he said. And they still bank a tidy profit from their government-controlled VLTs.

In Norway, he said, there’s a monthly limit of about $400 (Cdn) on how much anyone can bet through the machines. But players have the power to set a lower monthly or daily maximum.

Across Europe, he added, there are networks of lower-cost, lower-payout VLTs which have proven much less addictive. High-rollers can head to a casino, where different rules apply.

Research — and recent Alberta experience — has shown the "social responsibility" reminders on Alberta’s current machines have little impact, Williams said. But "hard limits" and ID systems like those used in Europe have proven highly effective.

Alberta’s current "voluntary exclusion" program has proven a failure, he said. And it doesn’t apply to neighbourhood pubs, where so much of the VLT gambling takes place.

It’s failed in other provinces as well, he added, and many problem gamblers have sued their provincial gambling and liquor authorities as a result.

"Quebec paid out $150 million last year," after security personnel failed to keep out self-admitted addicts. Ontario has also faced hundreds of suits, he said, and it’s paying them out of court.

"The addicts are fighting back, and well they should."

If this province’s new machines don’t offer safeguards, Alberta gamblers could be next.

Now’s the time to head that off, Williams said, and to save many Albertans from gambling addiction.

"Gambling is here to stay," Williams maintains. "But we can do it a lot more responsibly."