The gambling addiction It is a problem that, in recent years, has grown exponentially among young sectors of societythanks to the impulse given by the appearance of the online casinosthe sports betting houses and the advertising made by renowned influencers. Given this, the Chamber of Deputies seeks to advance with a project to combat gambling addiction.
In detail, the legislative proposal will be debated on next Wednesday at 9:30 in a plenary session of the commissions on Addiction Prevention and Drug Trafficking Control, Social Action and Public Health, Communications and IT, Criminal Legislation and Families, Children and Youth. A ruling is expected to enable the treatment on site.
The bill in Congress to combat gambling addiction
The bill began to be debated on May 14, in different information meetings that concluded on August 13. Now, it will resume parliamentary work to obtain an opinion and for the legislative proposal to come down to the floor as soon as possible.
In total, There will be 5 commissions that will participate in the plenary session which will begin next Wednesday at 9:30. Among them are Addiction Prevention and Drug Trafficking Control, Social Action and Public Health, Communications and IT, Criminal Legislation and Families, Children and Youth.
The intention of the president of Addiction Prevention, Mónica Frade, is to issue the opinion on the same Wednesday. However, it will not be an easy task since for that will require the signature of more than half of the members of each of the five commissions.
Throughout the meetings that took place in the legislative plenary session, the specialists asked for a law to sanction this scourge and raised the consequences of this addiction, which are the social isolation and apathy, disconnection from reality and economic damage for families.
Current legislation prohibits minors under 18 years of age from gambling.. However, the multiplication of platforms, the absence of effective registration controls on them, and the proliferation of electronic wallets that allow minors associate them with your family members’ credit cards They created a breeding ground that fed an increasingly growing problem.
The ruling will seek restrict advertisements, regulate the participation of cultural and sports leaders that promote these platforms. Another key point that deputies will seek to debate is the limitation of payment methods that minors use when they associate a family member’s credit card with a virtual wallet.
One of the projects that will be taken as a basis will be the initiative designed by the legislator of the Civic Coalition, Maximiliano Ferraroto which other contributions included in various initiatives linked to the IT area will be added.
Gambling addiction is growing in adolescents and children
A survey of the Ombudsman of the province of Buenos Aires analyzed the figures behind the furor of online gaming platforms. The data is conclusive: the 8.29% of Argentines bet online ever.
However, when you break down the numbers, the problem seems to get worse. This figure rises to 12.5% in young people between 15 and 24 years oldand reaches the 15.5% in the 25 to 34 year old groupaccording to a study presented by the Observatory of Addictions and Problematic Consumption of the Buenos Aires Ombudsman’s Office.
The report carried out by the Buenos Aires organization indicates that, historically, pathological gamblers were mostly adults over 45 years of age who bet to earn money or recover losses. This activity was carried out in physical places, such as casinos, bingo halls or betting houses.
However, in the 21st century and, above all, after the pandemic, the emergence of the virtual gaming modality promoted a latent problem and generated a change in the player’s profile. Now, it’s the young people from 15 to 35 yearsmany of them high school or college students, who get hooked on betting.
Teen online betting
The Buenos Aires study also demonstrates the most popular categories on betting sites: 41.2% of bettors choose football as their main option. The country’s mother sport is followed by bingo (37%) and boxing (16.8%).
Beyond passion, the report also explains that this inclination for football is related to a strong presence of betting sponsors in the sports field. 28% of the teams in the highest category of this sport in the country have online casino advertising. River and Boca, the two most popular teams in Argentina, carry sponsors from these sites on their shirts.
Other figures revealed that demonstrate the extent of gambling addiction show the frequency of gambling by users: 10.1% of bettors play every day and the 11.3% do it between four to six times a week. Finally, in relation to the amounts played, more than 23% bet figures greater than $10,000 and the 3% spend more than $100,000 on betting platforms.
Source: Ambito
