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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Minors and Addicts Fight Gambling Problems

As States Look to Increase Gambling Revenues, Minors and Addicts Fight Gambling Problems
by Problem Gambling in Addiction News

The U.S. Justice Department recently reversed its limitations on online gaming and will now allow states to profit from legal gambling operations. Gamblers will now have more opportunities to filter their gaming habits, according to a recent news story.


The 1961 Wire Act had once been applied to curb online sports betting but now will open the playing field to state lotteries and gambling. States may now see profits increased to around $12 billion a year for lottery games and nearly $5 billion for Internet gambling, according to Rick Brons, chairman of U.S. Digital Gaming, and a 2010 Morgan Stanley report.

The increase in revenue for states might be good for a struggling economy but the change will hurt those already battling a gambling addiction. A seemingly harmless allowance to an established rule could not only drive more gambling addicts online but also to their local casinos.

Whittier Law school professor, Nelson Rose argues that as states seek to finalize their newfound freedom with gambling revenues they will also need to consider regulations to enable individuals from forming a gambling addiction and to keep minors away from the games, too. There are an estimated 500,000 children, ages 12 to 17, that have gambling problems.

Young adults, well below the legal age to gamble, were already accessing Internet sites that had gaming. Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council of Problem Gambling, believes the gaming industry is obviously not doing its job with prevention so they will need to do more now. It is his expectation that the industry will continue with the lackluster job they are currently doing to prevent minors from gambling and those with addiction problems to bury themselves further into a hole.

In an effort to restrict a minor’s access to the gambling websites and for addicts to have limits, Whyte feels states should consider a study to fully understand their individual state’s problem with gambling. Finding a plan to minimize social costs as well as maximizing the revenues for gambling need to be equally considered, he says.

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