As casino and online gambling revenue continued its pandemic-precipitated climb, state lawmakers worried that gaming addiction has kept pace passed a series of measures Monday meant to discourage youth from gambling and divert problem gamblers from the criminal justice system.
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Essex) sponsored measures that would create a gambling treatment diversion court program, prohibit sports betting advertising at public colleges and universities in New Jersey, and require school districts to instruct high school students about the risks of compulsive gambling as part of their health curriculum.
Caputo chairs the Assembly’s tourism, gaming, and the arts committee, which unanimously advanced the bills Monday.
At the same time, Caputo has been a decades-long champion of gambling in New Jersey. A former casino executive, Caputo has another bill pending that would extend online gaming, first legalized in 2013 for a decade, to 2033. He also was behind a failed 2016 effort to allow slot machines at state racetracks.
Monday, he said he introduced his newest legislation to fight addiction, which he called gambling’s “unintended consequences.”
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As gambling revenue climbs, lawmakers advance bills to curb gaming addiction
