It's the popular cheap gift that makes a lucky few rich, but some of Canada's biggest gaming commissions are warning that a lottery ticket can be a dangerous stocking stuffer.

Loto-Quebec, the Atlantic Lottery Corp., and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. teamed up with researchers at McGill University to urge parents to avoid giving their children lottery tickets as Christmas presents.

"Lottery tickets are for adults, not kids," OLG spokesperson Don Pister said in an interview Tuesday with the Canadian Press. "There are a lot of things we restrict to certain ages in our society, and this is one of them."

The three gaming commissions have launched awareness campaigns aimed at warning parents about the perils of youth gambling.

Lottery products, with prizes ranging from a free ticket to millions of dollars, are often tempting gifts for well-meaning adults seeking to make an inexpensive impression on teenagers.

Gambling experts caution, though, that such impressions can have devastating implications.

"[Lottery tickets] are inexpensive, they make good stocking stuffers, but for kids they really give the wrong message and they can create potential problems," said Alissa Sklar, a senior researcher with McGill's International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours.

"It's really important for parents, grandparents, caregivers to realize that lottery tickets, scratch cards and other lottery products are inappropriate gifts for those who are 18 and under."

McGill's researchers claim playing the lottery at a young age can lead to problem gambling. They point to studies that suggest the younger children are introduced to gambling, the greater their risk of developing an addiction.

And, if nothing else, lottery products provide a cheap and easy introduction to gambling.

Buying tickets illegal for minors

"Gambling has become so normalized," Sklar said. "It's not on the radar screen of risks that people think of for their kids, like alcohol, drugs or tobacco. When parents model this and they give these things as gifts, they're basically saying `Don't worry, this is safe for you to do."'

It is illegal in most provincial jurisdictions for minors to buy, or even cash in, lottery tickets. But according to Sklar, 30 per cent of children in Canada have received lottery tickets or scratch cards as gifts.

The number is alarming for Sklar, given that youth gambling appears to be on the rise and as many as 30 per cent of Canadian teens gamble on a weekly basis.

Loto-Quebec spokesperson Jean-Pierre Roy acknowledged the challenge of convincing parents about the dangers of a gift idea that seems so harmless.

"We're selling the product so we know that a lot of parents don't see a lot of harm in offering lottery tickets to children and youngsters," Roy said. "There are lots of gifts you can offer youngsters other than lottery tickets."

Needless to say, those gift alternatives should also steer clear of anything that may encourage gambling, such as poker chips or dice.

"You go into the toy department of Zellers or many big department stores and you'll see gambling-related items that are really being marketed to kids," Sklar said.

"There are people who are unable to control their impulses, they are unable to stop," she added. "For most people it won't be a problem, but for some of them it will be and we don't want to give kids the impression that this is a harmless activity."