Codes presents a law proposal against compulsive gambling to the Lazio Regional Council
Cosenza also adheres to the 'no slot' manifesto
(Jamma) With the approval, which took place last week, of the agenda presented by Salvatore Magarò, president of the Commission against the 'Ndrangheta, the Regional Council of Calabria, the first region in Italy, adhered to and signed the Mayors' Manifesto for the Legality of Gambling, promoted by Terre di Mezzo and the Lega delle Autonomie Locali, with the aim of implementing any useful initiative to limit the indiscriminate diffusion of slots, VLTs and other devices that randomly award winnings of prizes in kind or in cash, since these types of devices more easily produce gambling addictions.
"Calabria's adhesion to the Mayors' Manifesto for the legality against gambling is only the first in a series of administrative measures and acts that we intend to carry out to stem the uncontrolled and worrying spread of gambling in our region as well. gambling and the addictive pathologies connected to them» says the councilor Salvatore Magarò.
"Our commitment - adds the President of the Commission against the 'Ndrangheta - is aimed at countering the spread of machines that accept cash bets and which are now everywhere, even within the reach of minors, not only by virtue of the serious repercussions that the phenomenon causes to individuals and their families, undermining social cohesion and throwing people on the streets, but also to prevent and combat the risk of infiltration into the gambling industry by organized crime, which has already emerged in the ambit of the many judicial investigations that demonstrate how the 'Ndrangheta manages hundreds of devices directly, illegally and covertly, guaranteeing themselves large profits and also fueling other serious crimes such as money laundering, usury and tax evasion.
Our ambition is to draw up a draft national law which is first approved by the Regional Council and which is subsequently presented to the Chambers, pursuant to article 121 of the Constitution which expressly allows the regions to submit their legislative initiatives to Parliament.
In the meantime, the Commission against the 'Ndrangheta is collaborating with the Health Commission, competent in the matter, for the drafting of a regional law project through which specific restrictions and limitations on the diffusion of gambling will be introduced in Calabria.
In particular, our proposal provides that the issue of authorizations for the installation of the aforementioned appliances is subject to compliance with the following constraints:
– location in places not intended for public service;
– the premises to be used as gaming halls and attractions must be intended for commercial use and not border on residential buildings;
– location in a place with a minimum amount of parking spaces in compliance with the municipal planning instrument in force;
– location in places where there is no high pedestrian traffic;
– location in places far from home–school routes;
– presence of adequate documentation for forecasting the acoustic impact;
– the installation of the devices useful for the game must be envisaged exclusively within the exercise of the games room;
– location in places that do not, in any way, attract the interest of children and adolescents;
– the location not less than 300 meters from places of worship, including cemeteries as such;
– l) the location at least 300 meters from gardens, parks and equipped public spaces;
– m) the prohibition of installing gaming machines in equipped bathing areas and near beaches, as well as in mountain tourist resorts;
– n) the prohibition of installing gaming machines less than 100 meters from ATMs or post offices or Compro Oro establishments;
– o) the prohibition of installing gaming machines in private clubs or associations;
– p) the ban on installing gaming machines in motorway service areas.
Furthermore - concludes Salvatore Magarò - to strengthen our activity to combat the spread of the phenomenon of pathological gambling, we have made all the Calabrian mayors aware of the problem, to whom I sent a letter expressly inviting them to use every legally available tool to limit the opening of new amusement arcades, also through the discretion reserved to the municipalities in the local taxation systems, that is by using the tax levers in such a way as to increase the taxes on those establishments that host amusement arcades”.
