Legalization = increased addiction

[Floxynice]

Right now when people are so exposed to gambling through social media platforms, there is not much the government  can do to stop people from gambling if they really want to. Alot of people are gambling at the comfort of there homes with hidden identities and the government's ain't aware of that. The government must have realised now that no matter what they do, people will still gamble, so instead of being at the losing end, they legalise it so they can properly monitor the activities of gamblers and as well earn revenue from casinos in their country.

Now everyone thinks addiction has increased because gambling was legalised. It might be shocking to find out that there were more addicts when gambling was considered illegal but those addicts were not bold enough to bring their problems out to the public since gambling was illegal.  The situation now that gambling is legal is different, gamblers can now express themselves in public.

[r_victory]

I believe that easy access to casinos, especially online ones, leads to greater addiction among gamblers, perhaps due to the false sense of freedom in being able to bet without feeling like a criminal; this drives them to wager increasingly more and lose control, turning what began as freedom into a prison. A prohibition does not necessarily stop someone from acting, but it compels them to consider the consequences of breaking the law.

[Natalim]

I agree with you OP, because those that are not supposed to start gambling will start gambling in order to win big since, gambling has been legalized, since there's nothing to fear or gamble in secret any more. Non gamblers can be lured to gamble by their friends wins or the ads they see on billboard place on major roads.

Gambling legalization does not mean everyone should freely enter gambling then. People should still consider their financial capacity, if they have extra funds then they can consider gambling sometimes. But if their funds are still tight, its better to just avoid gambling first than fall on the trap due to the belief that they can make instant money with gambling.

However, with social media gambling ads and promotions, and billboards here and there, people will often be lured in gambling, especially those who are jobless and are looking for instant money.

[Questat]

Gambling legalization is obviously bringing risk of increased addiction. However, the idea of gambling to remain non-legalized, knowing the fact that gambling will definitely not disappear since it has built already through ages, then everything will move completely underground, and that's where more dangerous outcomes will be expected.

There will be sustained underground networks, more criminal syndicates and increased violence and extortion, so expect that there will be more public chaos just because gambling is never legalized. No government revenues also, as in zero tax collection, so everything will only be benefited by those heads operating the black market.

[Makus]

Legalisation in gambling doesn't ultimately lead to gambling addiction in a lot of cases, to even though it has led to some people get addicted in the long run it doesn't remain mean that they did that just because gambling was legalized yo most people they get addicted to gambling simply because that's the choice that they made because gambling addiction has a lot to do with legalization people get addicted due to different reasons but at the of the day it's all a Matter of decision making.

[Rubuchi]

Legalisation of gambling is mostly done to regulate gambling and also enable government to be part of the process. It does not increase addiction although it embolden a lot of people to get involved and also make it accessible to everyone. Despite the disadvantages, I feel the advantages are enormous too and makes gambling legalisation preferred over illegal operation of gambling activities. Gambling is legal and regulated in my country yet we don't have too many records of gambling addictions, so legalisation has little impact on gambling addiction.

legalizing of gambling and addiction are truly two different things. Legalizing of gambling is a government thing while addiction is mostly a personal decision being made by a gambler. When government wants to be carried along especially in terms of revenue collection on gambling companies and others, it moves towards legalizing it especially if they are aware it is a big market to tap into and that's the major thing which happens but when we talk about addiction, it is something which happens being it when gambling is legalized or not. It happens regardless and that's what we face with a whole of gamblers today whether in countries where gambling is legalized or not.

[tread93]

Maybe it's better for the collective good that gambling remains non legalized.

Yeah I would have to agree, but at the same time even if gambling is not legal at the time or its not as legal ie there are other small forms of gambling available in most states like the scratch off tickets or the lotto. But hey it won't stop folks from going and hitting up the casinos that are staring right at you in the face on your phone at this very instance, just look slightly below and there is one right there 

[criptoevangelista]

It's normal for the number of addicts to increase when something is legalized, because along with legalization comes marketing and advertising on websites and mainstream TV channels. In a way, this incentivizes gambling, which is also in the government's interest, as it allows them to collect more and more taxes.

[bangjoe]

I agree with you OP, because those that are not supposed to start gambling will start gambling in order to win big since, gambling has been legalized, since there's nothing to fear or gamble in secret any more. Non gamblers can be lured to gamble by their friends wins or the ads they see on billboard place on major roads.

Gambling legalization does not mean everyone should freely enter gambling then. People should still consider their financial capacity, if they have extra funds then they can consider gambling sometimes. But if their funds are still tight, its better to just avoid gambling first than fall on the trap due to the belief that they can make instant money with gambling.

However, with social media gambling ads and promotions, and billboards here and there, people will often be lured in gambling, especially those who are jobless and are looking for instant money.

The fact is that poor people prefer to gamble because they hope to win big money from small capital as their hope, because there are so many advertisements circulating about the trick of big wins that are attracted by advertisers as a form of psychological encouragement to generate hope.
 
Legalization must be with complex rules so that people do not fall further into addiction, such as age restrictions, advertisements showing the wealth obtained from gambling, or any form of flexing so that it is prohibited to be included in this advertisement will be able to help the impact that may occur.

[OgNasty]

Anytime you increase access to something you are going to have more people become addicted. That’s just a numbers game. You would hope that with increased adoption there would be an increase in regulation to try and keep people from falling victim to themselves, but there is no shortage of ways that people do that.

[fruktik]

But it is better to legalize it than not legalize it and not get taxes from the industry.. with legalization, the government is able to monitor and set regulations to tighten the gambling industry so that it does not have an impact on minors, as well as reducing black market activity. regarding addiction which may increase, this must be balanced with education for users so they are able to gamble responsibly.

You think the government will do anything for the people? Hahaha... In my country, bandits have seized power and they couldn't care less about every citizen. What do they care about? Their own enrichment. Yes, they're looking for ways to replenish the budget. But not to improve life and ensure security, but to gain the opportunity to steal at least something from the federal treasury. So that's the current situation. I don't trust a single decision or word these bastards say. They recently created gaming zones, but they did so for their own interests.

[TedMosby]

I don’t think legalization of the gambling industry alone is enough to increase addiction. IMO, it’s not that simple. Even without legalization, people already gamble a lot using their money. They can use a VPN if the website is restricted in their country, they can also use a fake identity, etc.

Yes, legalization of gambling can increase the number of gamblers. If there are more gamblers, you should expect that those that will be addicted will increase.

So…
Legalization + bad regulation = big problem.
Legalization + good regulation = less problem.

This is not true. Also we are in the time that gambling ads are everywhere, even we can see it on the field while big clubs are playing and when competing in big competions like world cup and UEFA champions league.

Here are 5 countries that have legalized gambling and have low estimated problem gambling rates [1][2][3][4].

• Spain (0.3%)
• The Netherlands (0.3%)
• Germany (0.4 - 0.64%)
• Oceania (0.4% - 0.7%)
• Singapore (1.1%)

Here are 5 countries that have restricted gambling and have high estimated problem gambling rates [5][6][7][8].

• Kosovo (22%)
• South Korea (5.3% - 6.4%)
• Hongkong (5.8%)
• China (4%)
• Japan (2.2%)

Source:
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Last-year-prevalence-rates-of-problem-and-pathological-gambling-in-countries-studied_fig1_50229076
[2] https://focusgn.com/spain-problem-gambling-rate-among-lowest-in-the-world
[3] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5370365/
[4] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/casino-visits-by-singapore-citizens-and-prs-fell-by-5000-from-2023-to-2024-says-gambling-authority
[5] https://fixingyounow.com/gambling-addiction-statistics/
[6] https://data.espad.org/gambling-and-online-gambling/
[7] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10177881/
[8] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14550725221110197

[cryptoaddictchie]

The thing is, if these casinos will not be legalized, the government will not also earn revenues from them, so if legalization paves way for it, then government should legalized such casinos who pass their qualifications.

But I agree on the part that legalization only increased addiction. However I guess on that part, its not the casino nor legalization that should be blamed here, but its on how gamblers recklessly spend their funds into gambling.

Thats how should it be done but with crypto affiliation this might take a longer approach due to regulations. Thats also right that these legalization shouldnt be blame. Many countries have illegal casino and gambling site that some users are keep using. If were gonna blame anyone it should be those users who cant stop trying to gamble and lose their money.

[junder]

I agree with you OP, because those that are not supposed to start gambling will start gambling in order to win big since, gambling has been legalized, since there's nothing to fear or gamble in secret any more. Non gamblers can be lured to gamble by their friends wins or the ads they see on billboard place on major roads.

With countries that prohibit gambling, many people are gambling and even some of them do it openly, the prohibition of gambling is actually not too strict so people don't really care too much so they keep playing it.

And when the country that initially banned gambling with the change to legalize gambling, it is increasingly making an increase in the number of addictions.

[Julien_Olynpic]

It's likely that simple legalization could indeed increase addiction among a significant number of gamblers. However, this is primarily achieved through increased advertising. On the other hand, regulation is designed to enable the state, through its agencies, to address the negative consequences of this activity. To achieve this, the state could simply restrict gambling advertising by casinos and bookmakers. Furthermore, the state could allocate a portion of gambling revenue to rehabilitation programs for addicts.

[bubilas]

In my opinion, if someone wants to gamble, they don't care whether it's legal in their country. Online casinos have long been accessible to everyone, just like VPNs. Thanks to this, even Russians and Iranians can easily gamble, despite strict laws and internet restrictions. Unfortunately, this accessibility has a downside: even young people and teenagers can develop this addiction, even though their psyche isn't yet ready for this kind of pleasure. They also don't have any extra money, so they'll spend everything they need to feed themselves, and they might even start stealing from their parents.

[The Founding Titan]

Legalisation in gambling doesn't ultimately lead to gambling addiction in a lot of cases, to even though it has led to some people get addicted in the long run it doesn't remain mean that they did that just because gambling was legalized yo most people they get addicted to gambling simply because that's the choice that they made because gambling addiction has a lot to do with legalization people get addicted due to different reasons but at the of the day it's all a Matter of decision making.

Legalization will increase the number of people who gamble but addiction is not exactly a direct consequence of legalization after all people will still find a way to gamble even if it was still illegal, we've seen that happen too many times already that it's not even a question of whether people will gamble if it was illegal but more about how open they will be willing to be about it, secrets will have to be kept to make sure that they can stay gambling without being caught and that's probably ehy people don't see much of the addiction.

[Tungbulu]

I would say, I am not against about gambling but the government should regulate this type of business. Banning will just create black market in gambling. Because gambling has been part of human history already. And we can't eradicate this activity from humans. Addiction depends on the gambler. Whether it is legalized or not, I believe, gamblers have the upper hand if he will get addicted to it or not.

Yeah, proper regulation can indeed be way more effective and a much better position than outright ban, and this is mainly because you can simultaneously help players reduce excessive gambling activity and also reduce underground or illegal gambling. At the same time, gamblers would also have a personal responsibility to always gamble within their limits and try as much as possible to avoid unhealthy gambling habit.

[arwin100]

I would say, I am not against about gambling but the government should regulate this type of business. Banning will just create black market in gambling. Because gambling has been part of human history already. And we can't eradicate this activity from humans. Addiction depends on the gambler. Whether it is legalized or not, I believe, gamblers have the upper hand if he will get addicted to it or not.

Yeah, proper regulation can indeed be way more effective and a much better position than outright ban, and this is mainly because you can simultaneously help players reduce excessive gambling activity and also reduce underground or illegal gambling. At the same time, gamblers would also have a personal responsibility to always gamble within their limits and try as much as possible to avoid unhealthy gambling habit.

Regulation with modified rules or changes made like make it not accessible to poor or struggling people will be one of the best action to do. With that I can say that they made good action to lessen up the damage given by online gambling.

But if there's no changes will be made and they will just ask for payments to those platform want to be legal on their jurisdiction then nothing will happen. Because people will still engage on those legal casinos, so widespread addiction will still occur in this case.

[davis196]

I was reading some statistics and it became apparently obvious that addiction goes straight up when gambling is legalized.

Here's a news article:
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/sports-gambling/gambling-disorder-increased-legalized-sports-betting-rcna351785

For instance in the US it is a crucial point because eight now many states are legalising gambling whereas the only permissible form was state lotteries which were not so addictive. For instance you may buy a ticket but the odds of winning were so low that there was no instant gratification. And the proceeds we're largely used for good causes too.

Now gambling is all about super fast wins and advertising that is projecting false standards. So people are seeing it everywhere and accessing it by just making a bank wire that is instantly credited just like paying for a streaming subscription.

Maybe it's better for the collective good that gambling remains non legalized.

I don't have the exact data with me, but I do believe that similar levels of growing addiction to weed were noticed when marijuana got legalized in many US states. We simply cannot deny that gambling is addictive by design. The government must find the proper balance between keeping the gambling industry running under all the legal requirements and paying taxes while limiting the amount of people, who get addicted to gambling. Having a total ban over gambling is a wrong decision, while having very loose gambling regulations and gambling advertising being spread all over the place is also a totally wrong approach. There's no easy solution, but finding a balance between regulations and "responsible gambling" policies is necessary for every country.