Total war on gambling: Senators have decided to raise the age limit to 21 and “turn off” online advertising during the day. As politicians look for legislative solutions, psychologists warn that gambling addiction is a “ticking time bomb” that destroys lives, leading to everything from financial ruin to episodes of severe depression and suicide.
Motivation of legislative initiatives
“Raising the age limit, from the current 18 to 21, would protect young people in a critical phase of their development, when they are more susceptible to risky behaviors and impulsivity. Scientific research in the field of neurology has shown that a significant part of the human brain continues to develop and mature until around the age of 25, especially in the areas responsible for self-control and decision-making.writes in the statement of reasons of the legislative project on increasing the age limit for access to gaming rooms. The initiator is PNL senator Raluca Turcan, and the Senate decided yesterday to adopt the project.
The same document also refers to other aspects:
“Young people between the ages of 18 and 21 are often in a stage of transition towards financial independence, being students or at the beginning of their professional career. If they fail to manage the risks associated with gambling, they will have serious financial problems at the beginning of their first experiences of autonomy in life. Last but not least, teenagers and young people, target groups targeted indiscriminately, represent the categories to whom marketing campaigns for gambling games are addressed. Raising the age limit could reduce the effectiveness of marketing techniques and reduce the pressure on them to participate in gambling.”
The other legislative project – which provides for the ban on broadcasting in the online environment, between 06.00-24.00, any type of audio, video or image content that promotes gambling – belongs to USR senator Diana Stoica. They also propose the ban in the online environment of advertisements in which public figures are present. Such a ban, established by the CNA, is already valid for TV commercials.
The two proposals were submitted to the Parliament since November, but received rejection reports in the Economic and Legal committees.
“Gambling addiction is one of the worst addictions”
We asked the psychologist Mihai Copăceanu, a psychologist specialized in addictions, what are the biggest risks behind gambling.
“Gambling addiction is one of the worst addictions. It affects not only the person playing, but also his family and professional and social life. And here we are not only talking about financial damage — a person can lose thousands of lei or thousands of euros in a few minutes — but also about severe depression, including suicide attempts and cases. The professional side is deeply affected, as is the family side. Numerous dysfunctions occur in the family, including divorce,” he explained.
The danger is all the greater because it doesn’t even take a long time for addiction to occur.
“It can set in even after simple attempts to play ostensibly out of curiosity in a casino, because we are talking about brain damage, changes in the reward system and the fact that a player cannot quit on his own without specialized and long-term support”the psychologist draws attention.
Young people and gambling
Although legally young people in Romania are not allowed to participate in gambling until the age of 18, the latest Eurostat analysis shows otherwise: 25% of Romanian teenagers who responded to the European questionnaire said that they had played games of chance in the last year, such as mechanical gaming machines, card or dice games, lotteries or sports betting.
The earlier the games start, the greater the danger of addiction becomes, experts warn.
“There is a very high number of young people, between 18 and 24 years old, who are already addicted and who lose very large amounts of money,” says Mihai Copaceanu.
He advises parents to pay attention to sports betting as well.
“There are analyzes that show a link between teenagers who start seemingly harmlessly with sports betting and the fact that they later end up gambling constantly.“
Can raising the threshold to 21 work?
The psychologist says yes.
“Raising the minimum age to 21 for access to gambling could mean a decrease in the number of those who become addicted. These three years represent an important period of brain maturation, and people at this age stage can develop better self-control, rational decision-making and a lower level of impulsivity.
If during this period young people are not exposed and do not start playing, the chances of them developing an addictive behavior decrease considerably. In addition, they can engage in other healthy activities and develop more balanced habits.”
However, Mihai Copăceanu points out, from a legal and legislative point of view there could be problems, because, in Romania, upon reaching the age of 18, the person acquires full exercise capacity.
Why better regulation is needed
To protect young people, the specialist believes that another measure is needed, complementary to the ones proposed now:
“Besides the part of physical access in a casino, the game in the online environment, where accessibility is extremely high, must be specifically regulated. With great ease, anyone with a simple phone can access online gambling platforms and lose a lot of money in a very short time. This is precisely why, in addition to the regulation of advertising, a stricter regulation of online gambling is also necessary.”
The current legislative framework, draws the attention of the psychologist specialized in addictions, does not protect sufficiently, on the contrary
“In Romania, this industry (no gambling) is very little regulated. Romanians witness excessive and aggressive advertisements, both online and in the physical environment, in almost every city, in an insufficiently regulated legislative framework. Any legislative regulation is in support of addicts, who become victims of this phenomenon with a deep emotional, social and financial impact, a phenomenon that, in cases of severe depression, can also affect the player’s life”, concludes the psychologist.
