Legalization = increased addiction

[Marvelockg]

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

The primary thing that legalising gambling does is that it causes an increase in the number of gamblers since it's almost like an accepted practice in that locality. When there's an increase, there might be some level of unguided gambling practices but with that, addiction still remains a personal thing that happens as a result of the lack of discipline in the way some gamblers look at gambling.

Unemployment and over exposure to gambling using it as an escape rout from poverty jointly contribute to the extent of addiction we see among gamblers. When a gambler gambles consistently and tries to leave off it, it will only take time but he will certainly become addicted in the long run.

[Felicity_Tide]

~snip

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

Imo, legalizing gambling is not the problem, the actual problem is when there are no concrete plans to do a follow up.
The fact is, it's difficult to monitor every single gambling user, but it's much easier to monitor every single gambling platforms, from the angle of the government through genuine regulations. These platforms can dictate what people play, when people play, and who should play. It's their platform, so they can do the needful. But I seriously doubt if those who are the actual regulators, are doing enough in trying to create a balance between what has been legalized and the negative side of that legality.

[L E G E N D A R Y]

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.

If gambling makes one to feel like the game is more of a prison type to them, they need to be stop, though, they can't just stop right away but setting strict rules can of course be of great help and support to them, as they will set boundary to their gambling habit and fund the game with what they can lose without going beyond their budget, as it will protect them from doing or taking path that will not be help to them and one should be able to stop themselves if the game is not giving them what they want.

[bakasabo]

Situation with increased addiction due to legalization can be following. Because casinos are legalized, they share statistics with info about number of players or registered accounts they have, and it is possible to identify addicted gamblers among them. It can be that it is impossible to track and count number of illegal casinos, number of gamblers who gamble there and to figure out how many of them are addicted. You cant create true report and compare number of addicted gamblers, when you know details about legal casinos, and all information about illegal casinos are X.

I can predict that report looked like this (random numbers, just for example). We had 100 casinos in 2000 and 1 million gamblers, among which 20k were addicted. In 2026 we have 1000 casinos, 100 millions gamblers and 500k addicted gamblers. Conclusion, increased addiction. And we had "?" illegal casinos in 2000 with "?" gamblers. In 2026 we have "?" illegal casinos and "?" gamblers among which "?" are addicted.

I am saying that we dont know size of illegal gambling and we cant compare it with size of legal gambling to tell that legalization of gambling is increasing number of addicted.

[_act_]

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.

How will the government limit the number of people that are addicted to gamble or how can the government stop gambling addiction? Do you know a family member or a friend that someone is living may be gambling and the person will not kninot know. Another thing is that the government care most about the taxes and not bothered about gambling addiction.

[Vaculin]

How will the government limit the number of people that are addicted to gamble or how can the government stop gambling addiction? Do you know a family member or a friend that someone is living may be gambling and the person will not kninot know. Another thing is that the government care most about the taxes and not bothered about gambling addiction.

There is always a way to limit it, because what we are talking about is just limiting it, not completely stopping it.

With proper regulation on advertisements, that can already help limit gambling addiction because people would not know about gambling that easily, especially young minds since they are more prone to gambling addiction.

Also, it should not only be about prevention. The government should also create programs on how to help cure addiction, and that means proper rehabilitation.

[DrBeer]

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.

The problem is not gambling. The problem is that ANY prohibited topics are always realized in the "shadow zone". And this means crime, loss of taxes, and loss of control over the economic sector. Therefore, states often choose the path of legalization as a way of reducing potential problems and obtaining additional benefits. This is quite logical.

[lovesmayfamilis]

It seems that I have déjà vu, and only recently I answered a similar question; moreover, I even remember what I wrote then. I don't think that if something is allowed, then it must necessarily entail some kind of dependence. If alcohol is allowed in the country, does this mean that there will be a lot of people with alcohol dependence in the country? But I also agree that the bans imposed by the government serve as a barrier for many from what they would like to spend their time and money on, but being law-abiding, they do not want to break the law. However, not all permissions are required to cause people to "lose control" and lose their minds and become addicted to gambling. Such dependencies do not arise for everyone from the fact that people have a lot of something or they can do something. A special mental makeup, state of health, and, most of all, their worldview will be the starting point to determine whether a person is gambling and whether they are at risk of becoming addicted to gambling.

[Dunamisx]

In many things to see people do for themselves, abuse is always inevitable, therefore this is not about gambling being the major trigger to addiction, but some gamblers thinking they are too smart in their own eye and exhibit higher level of indiscipline as the Gamble, people like this will be the ones making gambling look as if it is a crime to do, while addiction can exist in any form by anything we do if we are not being careful of doing it in the right way.

[Rockstarguy]

We really need to look into this because I don’t think legalizing gambling is the only reason why gambling addiction is increasing. There are some other factors that could also be contributing to the rate of addicted gamblers. There are some regions where gambling is not legalized, yet people still gamble massively. Lack of employment and economic hardship during this time could also be the reason for the increasing rise of gambling. However, even with the legalization of gambling, I think the government should also try to regulate it because it can also affect people when gambling ads are just pervasive.

[purple_sparkles]

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 think people who enjoy gambling would be better protected from scams if everything were legal and properly regulated. The bigger issue is how that regulation and oversight are implemented.I'm generally in favor of legalization, but it should go hand in hand with public education programs that promote a healthy, responsible attitude toward money and gambling. People shouldn't be under the illusion that gambling is a realistic way to become wealthy. It should be viewed as entertainment, not as a financial strategy.

[michellee]

Gambling will not let people wins easily but taking their money. Maybe people can win but not too big as their deposit money and that is only for some gamblers. But if people can treats gambling as entertainment, they will not gambling too much and the addiction will not happens to them. Gambling disorder will reducing as people can enjoy gambling in their free time and not insist to chase the win because they know that is difficult. Gambling legalization might not increase addiction if people don't thinks to make money from gambling but only for have fun so they will not get a problem.

[BRINIRHA]

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

For the legality issue, I think addiction will continue to occur so in this case for the government that legalizes it actually has an advantage in terms of revenue for them and their addiction problem only needs to further improve or tighten regulations on the distribution of gambling.
Gambling will still be synonymous with addiction and the government only has to minimize this especially for the sale of lottery tickets or general limits in gambling because sometimes even though they have emphasized legality but in some applications of regulations especially for age limits sometimes it is not effective so that addiction will still continue to occur because the more gamblers who buy (because there are no restrictions) the greater the possibility of addiction.

[Alex077]

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...

I think once gambling becomes legal, easily accessible on your phone, and constantly advertised during sports broadcasts, the risk of addiction naturally goes up. In the past, lotteries were a much more passive form of gambling. You bought a ticket and waited for the draw.
And in my opinion legalization without strict rules on advertising, deposit limits, and player protection can easily do more harm than good.
On the other hand, an outright ban doesn't really solve the problem either. People will simply move to offshore or illegal gambling sites, where there's little or no protection at all.

[Italian Panic]

It has been demonstrated time and again that prohibition leads to an increase in the use of illegal substances, as was the case during the American Prohibition of the 1920s: when the ban on alcohol was lifted, consumption fell and the moonshiners disappeared. For this reason, it is better to liberalise this sort of thing, and then addiction will decrease.

[TheUltraElite]

Legalization has always been about the governments being able to tax the subject in question never about the ill effects of the same subject. The legalization of casinos would draw public interest from the pro-gambling group and dissent from the anti-gambling groups as far as votes are concerned but in the long run helps governments grow its tax.

Addiction will always be there in such games, what we need to see is whether the people are spending too much of their working hours in gambling leading to unproductive lives. Which is the reason why people dont support these type of legalization.

[hedgeh0g]

Legalization has always been about the governments being able to tax the subject in question never about the ill effects of the same subject. The legalization of casinos would draw public interest from the pro-gambling group and dissent from the anti-gambling groups as far as votes are concerned but in the long run helps governments grow its tax.

Addiction will always be there in such games, what we need to see is whether the people are spending too much of their working hours in gambling leading to unproductive lives. Which is the reason why people dont support these type of legalization.

I think gambling is gradually becoming so pervasive in our lives and the lives of those around us that it undoubtedly affects everyone. Of course, we hear stories about every gambler who lost and came up just short of winning, but this is an illusion, because the gambler was programmed to lose from the start, they just didn't know it, and all because they lack a winning strategy, the necessary emotional control, and the understanding of when to stop gambling to avoid exceeding the risk.

[Awaklara]

In many things to see people do for themselves, abuse is always inevitable, therefore this is not about gambling being the major trigger to addiction, but some gamblers thinking they are too smart in their own eye and exhibit higher level of indiscipline as the Gamble, people like this will be the ones making gambling look as if it is a crime to do, while addiction can exist in any form by anything we do if we are not being careful of doing it in the right way.

But, gambling will be considered a cause of addiction. In countries that ban gambling, gambling is a crime. They highlight the negative impacts commonly seen in gamblers. 
The legalization of gambling must be prepared with a lot of consideration. Oversight, particularly concerning permits and the determination of terms and conditions in their country, must be clear to protect gamblers. This isn’t just about making money from gambling taxes.

[Rashlyowl]

The statements in the news are based on data, so we really cannot dispute them. However, every region is unique, in some areas, legalizing gambling changed nothing, things remained exactly as they were before legalization.

Legalization = increased addiction, it implies a lack of basic knowledge about gambling, should be that easy.

[YOSHIE]

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

The fact is that this is true, the legalization of the gambling industry will increase addiction, it is not only happening in the US, On average, the data found in countries that have legalized gambling is like this, this is mainly due to instant accessibility by many people.

From some data that I saw in my country, where the gambling industry's income was previously illegal, their income was low, but after the legalization process their income increased sharply, This proves easier access to gambling and is coupled with massive promotions among the general public.

There are several cases that I have found, where people used to rarely gamble, you could say never, but after the legalization of several brands of gambling, In fact, I see that they have no free time, everything is spent on gambling, this also proves that legalization actually makes them develop a massive gambling addiction.