About this episode:

Between scratch tickets, casinos, and the recent explosion of sports betting apps, opportunities to gamble abound. So too do opportunities for the development of a gambling disorder—a medical condition as serious as substance use disorders. In this episode: Will Hinman and Christopher Welsh from the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling explain how to recognize gambling disorders and where to seek help.

Guests:

Will Hinman is a certified peer recovery specialist at the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling.

Dr. Christopher Welsh is an addiction psychiatrist and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is also the medical director of the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

Show links and related content:

• As Online Betting Surges, So Does Risk of Addiction—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine

• New Survey Shows Rising Rates of Disordered Gambling Among Marylanders Since Legalization of Online Sports Betting—University of Maryland School of Medicine

• Warning Signs—Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling

• Voluntary Exclusion Program—Maryland Alliance for Responsible Gaming

• Public Health and Gambling Part 1: How Gambling Became So Ubiquitous, and the Potential for Problems—Public Health On Call (February 2026)

Transcript information:

Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel.

Contact us:

Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website.

Follow us:

• @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky

• @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram

• @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook

• @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube

• Here's our RSS feed

Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.