Gambling Is Sending More People to the ER
A separate study by some of the same researchers also found that calls to ConnexOntario, Ontario’s free 24-hour mental health and addictions helpline, were 200% higher than they would have been had the law not been changed. That study found that the people reaching out for help were almost exclusively boys and men aged 15 to 44.
“There’s two data sources telling us there is a real health signal happening here,” Forrest says.
The mental-health consequences of expanding betting
The study is a warning to the U.S., which has seen sports gambling proliferate since 2018 after the Supreme Court struck down a law barring most state-authorized sports gambling, allowing states to decide for themselves whether to allow sports betting. Since then, dozens of states, including New Jersey, Tennessee, and New York, have legalized sports betting. Many states also allow online casino games. Gambling has spread in Canada, too, after the country legalized betting on single sports events in 2021.
