Gambling addiction a 'threat to public health,' report warns

It’s everywhere.

celebrities like drake post I’m reporting on Instagram about the winnings I’ve won at online casinos. Podcast advertising plugs sports betting. Friends feel free to “collaborate” on group texts.

Gambling has reached new levels all over the world.

A new report by an international panel of 22 health and policy experts warns of the risks of gambling in an age of easy online access.

“Our conclusion is clear: Gambling poses a threat to public health,” said the report, released Thursday. The Lancet Public Health Journal. Researchers from the World Health Organization and other organizations on five continents said that “significant expansion and tightening of gambling industry regulation” is needed to control this growing problem.

Gambling disorder, or addiction, has been extensively studied for decades. The factors are different from other forms of addiction. With gambling, people don’t hit a wall like drug overdoses do unless they run out of money.

And Las Vegas-style slot machines and game day betting are now more easily accessible than ever.

Heather Wardle, co-chair of the commission and a professor of gambling research and policy at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said: “Anyone with a mobile phone has access to what is essentially a casino in their pocket on 24/7. “We now have access to time.” said in a statement. “Highly sophisticated marketing and technology makes it easy to start gambling, but difficult to stop.” Users are also encouraged to “repeat and engage longer.”

According to the report, nearly 450 million adults worldwide participate in so-called “risk gambling”, which can impact their finances, mental health, relationships and jobs. This report is based on a review and analysis of previous gambling research. Risky gambling leads to behavioral changes that affect a person’s life and health, the report said. Approximately 80 million people have a more serious condition called gambling disorder or problem gambling.

But researchers said this number was likely an underestimate.

The report estimates that almost 16% of adults and more than 26% of adolescents who play online casino and slot machine games suffer from a gambling disorder. It is estimated that almost 9% of adults and more than 16% of teens who participate in sports betting become addicted.

Gambling not only causes significant financial losses, but can also increase the risk of suicide and domestic violence, the report said.

The report examined new gambling laws from 2018 to 2023 across 80 jurisdictions, including most US states. We also looked at gambling in countries where gambling is prohibited but where online access allows gambling to flourish.

Safe and responsible gaming?

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an earlier ban on sports betting. Since then, gambling has been allowed in 38 states and its popularity has grown exponentially.

Joe Maloney, senior vice president of strategic communications for the American Gaming Association, an industry group, said the gambling industry has worked diligently with state regulators to foster a safe and responsible environment.

Maloney said in a statement that since the 2018 ruling, “the industry has made significant investments to advance responsible gaming efforts, expand available consumer resources, and develop tools that promote safer gambling. I’ve come,” he said.

“We firmly support continued discussion and adoption of best practices to ensure the continued implementation of effective safeguards,” he said.

The gaming association says the industry has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to promote responsible gaming and added more than 5,000 regulators across states where gambling is legal. The group’s materials cite several studies suggesting that increased exposure to gambling has not led to an increase in addiction.

Some of that evidence was from 2023. Massachusetts report Written by Rachel Volberg, Public Health Commissioner, The Lancet. Statewide censuses from 2013 to 2021 showed a decline in problem gambling as gambling decreased overall. The report surveyed people before athletes were legalized in Massachusetts. in 2023.

Volberg’s 2024 report A report released in August suggests there may have been a reversal of these declines. Volberg, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who studies gambling and gambling problems, said the report was based on an online survey of monthly gamblers, who are considered a “canary in the coal mine” group for increased gambling. It is said that he used it. These recent results suggest that the prevalence of gambling is increasing and has negative consequences for those who gamble monthly, including on their economic, social, and psychological well-being.

However, she noted that the impact of easy access to online gambling has not been well studied.

“We need to monitor it,” she told USA TODAY. “Really little has been done to monitor the effects of gambling expansion.”

The rationale behind gambling laws

The Lancet report examined the rationale behind gambling laws. US law tends to focus on: May benefit your bottom linewhereas European legislation focuses on risks to public health.

Leah Nower, director of the Rutgers University Gambling Research Center in New Jersey, said the U.S. also differs in that each state has a patchwork of regulations. There is no federal regulator that sets comprehensive standards.

Nawar said more young people are turning to gambling, often accessing it through video games. This is particularly worrying because exposed young people are more likely to continue gambling.

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