Increase in gambling harms & mental health

Addiction Economy Thought for Today - New report on gambling harms shows young people risking far more than they can afford, but keep it quiet . They are quite hard to spot and being open about how it is affecting you is important, but 2 in 3 keep their problems hidden.

Young people again a target for another industry whose business model is dependancy and addiction. An important component of the playbook for all is to get 'em young and keep 'em hooked. Stigma and shame make it worse.

Our Addiction Economy research is looking at how policy, regulation and commercial imperatives deliberately facilitate dependancy and addiction in so many industries. Gambling is a poster child of this. As the Guardian showed earlier in the year - the transformation of the UK gambling industry can be firmly put at the door of Tony Blair in allowing aggressive advertising and the deliberate addictive techniques (or DATs) used online by betting companies.

A depressing read here about the transformation of the industry for money and political kudos:

Tony Blair’s bet on gambling harms has spiralled out of control

But good old Guardian walked its talk and stopped taking gambling ads this year, even though it was a big part of their revenue. Worth subscribing to support that alone, not just for the great journalism, Edith Pritchett's Venn diagrams in the Saturday and the fact that it is free for everyone to see.

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