“The data on the increase in people taken care of by the ASL services of Bologna and its province, presented in recent days by the Epidemiological Observatory on addictions of the ASL of Bologna, undeniably worries us and makes us think, despite the data on gambling addiction -if compared to the others- it appears to be the lowest (239 is the number of those who accessed services for GAP addiction which, if compared to the 3700 total represents just 6,4%). The evidence of these numbers, in addition to not justifying the attacks that the legal gaming sector is undergoing, certifies the limited effectiveness in combating gaming addiction of the measures provided for by regional legislation which, through retroactive distance meters and time limitations, have not done other than moving users towards alternative forms of gaming - even illegal ones - by sanctioning the closure of hundreds of legal activities (since the approval of law 5/2013, over 45% of legal gaming activities in the Region have been closed). For this reason, it would be appropriate for the Emilia-Romagna Region to change its approach: rather than pursuing prohibitionist policies which - in addition to causing the loss of jobs and income for the treasury - are ineffective in combating gambling addiction, it would be better aim for measures that favor the prevention of this phenomenon, since there seems to be no lack of tools in this sense". This is what he writes in a note Star.
