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(Jamma) "By the end of this month, the Lombardy Region Council will present the text of the draft law on gambling addiction, so that the regional council can quickly share and approve the provision". He said it the regional councilor for Territory and Urban Planning Viviana Beccalossi, indicated by the president of the Lombardy Region to coordinate, together with the Family, Commerce and Security departments, the process of the law aimed at countering a phenomenon that throughout Italy and in Lombardy in particular is becoming a real social scourge. “A very recent survey commissioned by Codacons at the Catholic University of Brescia – continued councilor Beccalossi – provides impressive data. One video lottery player out of three is pathological and, what is worse, the impact on the weakest sections of the population is devastating. Suffice it to say that the majority of chronic gamblers are unemployed men, but we also find 25% housewives and 17% students and retirees. People who go to game rooms between five and seven times a week and who in 85% of cases lose an average of 40 euros a day. The fact that the highest national per capita spending on gambling is registered in Pavia in Lombardy gives us a further incentive to act quickly”. Among the provisions to be included in the draft law, the strengthening of controls by the police forces and the local police, information and prevention campaigns and activities, treatment and support for sick people, the distance of slot rooms from places of worship, schools, youth centers". “We know – concluded the commissioner – that the powers of the Regions on this issue are limited. However, it is also necessary to give a strong signal to the national legislator on the urgency of a measure. I'm thinking of more stiffness
on the opening hours of the cinemas, which limits the abuse of gambling at night, which causes promiscuity, often associated with alcohol abuse and undoubtedly undermines the balance of many families”.
