Irish Professor Warns Not to Normalize Gambling and Offer Enough Treatment

The normalization of gambling is a danger that lurks in societies that have become too open and liberal to sports gambling, professor Coin O’Gara believes. His opinion – or concern rather – is voiced in the context of Ireland moving ahead with a new gambling law that will presumably create better consumer safeguards.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

However, O’Gara, who specializes in treating addiction, worries that too much sports gambling could “normalize” the activity, leading to a higher incidence of gambling addiction. The man is not only articulating his concerns, though – he’s acting.

According to The Independent, an Irish media outlet, O’Gara has submitted a letter to the current committee overseeing the revision of gambling laws in the country. As head of addiction services at St. John of Gods Hospital in Dublin, O’Gara is confident that he has the necessary expertise to weigh in on the issue.

Presently, an estimated 5% of the population is either suffering from gambling addiction or is on the verge of becoming addicted. O’Gara has explained that there are 50,000 confirmed cases of addiction while 250,000 more gamblers are simply qualified at risk.

He puts these numbers in context, with 39% of the Irish population falling under the category of binge drinkers when it comes to alcoholic beverages. O’Gara’s concerns are based on several things. For starters, he believes that the activity is being introduced in a way that would make it too every day and therefore more dangerous.

However, he points to the fact that there is a clear lack of established gambling addiction treatment facilities that could make coping with the problem of a rising number of gamblers more difficult. O’Gara has said that young men are particularly at risk and suggests that many are tempted to bet on the outcome of sports in an almost compulsory fashion.

Parties Coloring Around the Lines

While his qualms are well-placed, gambling is largely just a form of entertainment by most. However, there have been issues with the way the activity is regulated in Ireland. As the country advanced a law that is now awaiting Royal Assent, there have been some instances where companies could have done much better.

One such is the fact that some companies opted to block credit card bets and funding of accounts voluntarily, but were found out to be using a loophole, allowing credit cards to fund third-party wallets which then funded gambling accounts. A new regulator would be able to address this issue and mete out penalties to offending parties.

In the meantime, Ireland does seem to lack when it comes to treatment facilities. In the rest of the United Kingdom, the NHS is now looking to create a compulsory addiction levy that would potentially fund treatment independently from the gambling industry’s voluntary donations.