by Linda Straker
- Wants holistic approach to domestic gambling adopted
- Referred to games of chance described as highly addictive by World Health Organisation
- Grenada National Lotteries Authority is leading provider of all lottery games and products
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said he is concerned about the level of gambling or game of chance that is happening in Grenada. He wants to see a holistic approach be adopted, whereby focus is not only on the revenue gained but also on the impact of those who are vulnerable to the habit.
“I do have significant concerns about the level of domestic gambling that is going on in Grenada, and it is something that has to be addressed holistically. You see, values matter, and if people are left to think the only way in which they can exit the financial challenges that they have is through gambling, then you know we are guaranteeing to them that they will never come out of it,” the Prime Minister said during his first interview for 2026.
Speaking with host Colin Dowe on the Grenada Broadcasting Network weekly Monday night programme called Beyond the Headlines, Mitchell said that he respects an individual’s right to choose how they want to live their life, but he is of the opinion that as a society, there is a need to have some consensus as to what values are and what are the merits and demerits.
“Gambling is a demerit, and gambling addiction, if one suffers from it, could be highly destructive,” he said. The prime minister made it clear that he was not referring to one-off bingo or other games of chance, but to those described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as highly addictive.
“It is people who are of limited financial means who find themselves gambling, and if they are to find themselves addicted, then we have an issue,” he said, pointing out that there are people who gamble between 12 and 14 hours per day.
“It’s the accessible behaviour and patterns where they don’t care about their children. They leave the children at home, and they go gambling; they spend hours in the gambling area without realising that 12 hours have passed, 14 hours have passed,” he said. “We have to take a whole of society approach to decide what are the best avenues or options when maximising revenues that come from gambling while at the same time protecting the persons who are most vulnerable from the activities of gambling,” he suggested.
Besides private companies having promotional games of chance, the biggest gambling outfit is the state established Grenada National Lotteries Authority (GNLA) which is the leading provider of all lottery games and products in Grenada, including Bingo, Lotto (local weekly jackpot game), Super 6 (Windward Islands jackpot game), Daily Pick 3 (local daily game) and a wide variety of instant Scratch games.
