According to recent research by a worldwide health committee, there are serious health hazards associated with internet gambling. The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, has established a public health commission on gambling, bringing together 22 specialists to assess the global impact of gambling, according to NBC News. The group’s goal was to evaluate the increasing impact of online gaming by reviewing a variety of research, polls, and statistics on gambling trends and damages.
Report Urges Stronger Regulations
The commission’s findings emphasize that existing regulations are insufficient to safeguard public health. Experts involved, hailing from 12 countries, argue that governments need stricter rules to curb gambling-related harms. “We’re not talking about people playing a game with cards around the table anymore,” noted Louisa Degenhardt, professor at the University of New South Wales and epidemiology lead on the commission.
Degenhardt expressed concern over online gambling’s rapid growth and its potentially harmful effects. “Many people might be really experiencing harms from gambling — we think that it’s probably around 72 million people globally. That number is likely to increase, as we are seeing the increase in commercial organizations targeting people to gamble more,” she told NBC News.
Since the Supreme Court overturned the federal sports betting ban in 2018, nearly 40 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have launched legal sports betting markets. However, the growth of online gambling has raised concerns among several U.S. states about potential effects on brick-and-mortar casinos and other legal gambling industries. States including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and New Jersey are assessing whether online gambling may divert revenues from physical casinos and reduce employment in traditional gaming sectors.
Despite online gaming’s expansion in regions like Latin America, some states in the U.S. have chosen a cautious approach, claiming online gambling might cannibalize physical casinos’ revenue. As public health experts call for more stringent oversight, regulators face the challenge of balancing consumer demand for online gaming with broader social concerns. The debate continues as authorities weigh the potential impact on communities and existing gambling markets.
The post Health Commission Raises Alarms Over Online Gambling Expansion appeared first on iGaming.org.