The Chamber of Deputies of the province of Buenos Aires is considering a series of initiatives to combat betting among minors.
Argentina.- In its extraordinary session last week, the Chamber of Deputies of the Province of Buenos Aires gave the green light to a series of initiatives aimed at combating gambling among minors, pending the mega joint initiative being prepared by all political blocks which will unify the main proposals to regulate online betting and eliminate youth participation.
According to the media Diputados Buenos Aires, the projects analyzed range from requests for reports, expressions of concern and satisfaction, and declarations of legislative interest. However, the law to regulate online gaming activity has not yet reached the chamber as it is being drafted in committees.
Firstly, the lower chamber gave half approval to the declaration project of deputy Silvina Vaccarezza, which "expresses concern about the growing advance of sports betting, online casinos, and virtual lotteries" and for the Buenos Aires government to block betting sites in schools.
Another proposal that received the green light from the Deputies was that of the legislator from Civic Agreement (UCR+GEN), Belén Malaisi, which seeks to express her strong rejection of a resolution by the National Securities Commission (CNV) that allows children to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies from the age of 13. "We are in the presence of an attempt not only to promote online gambling from the State but to legitimize that our children can bet like adults," she reflected.
Furthermore, the Deputies also dispatched a project that declares of legislative interest the workshop "Youth and online betting – Approaches for the prevention of compulsive and problematic gambling", developed by the Observatory of Addictions and Problematic Consumption of the Ombudsman of Buenos Aires. The text, authored by radical deputy Valentín Miranda, also bears the signature of his peers, Noelia Saavedra (UxP), Carlos Puglielli (UxP), Salomé Jalil Toledo (URF), Romina Braga (CC-ARI), Julio Pasqualín (Civic Agreement), Pablo Domenichini (Civic Agreement), Diego Garciarena (UCR+CF), Alejandra Lordén (UCR+CF), Emiliano Balbín (UCR+CF), Anahí Bilbao (UCR+CF), Claudio Rossi (UCR+CF), and Silvina Vaccarezza (UCR+CF).
In the same vein, the lower chamber approved the initiative of deputy Micaela Olivetto to declare of legislative interest the research "Betting is not a game", which was conducted in 360 localities across the country by national deputy Constanza Alonso, councilor of Chivilcoy Fernando Cabani, and university professor Martín Romeo, and which seeks to alert about the effects of gambling addiction.
On the other hand, the local media announced that the Deputies advanced with the request for reports from the deputy of Civic Agreement (UCR+GEN), Viviana Dirolli, demanding that the government of Kicillof disclose details of the Plan for Prevention and Treatment of Adolescent Gambling Addiction, such as the budget allocated for the program, the actions it carries out, and whether it has a professionally trained staff to address this disease.
Also, the Chamber of Deputies of Buenos Aires gave the green light to the declaration of legislator Fernando Rovello (PRO), expressing concern about "the proliferation of illegal betting platforms that are not subject to any state control advertising on social networks, where they encourage adolescents to bet their money."
Finally, in last Thursday's extraordinary session, the Deputies endorsed the declaration of satisfaction for the action of the National Communications Entity (ENACOM) to block more than a thousand illegal betting websites to combat child gambling addiction, a proposal raised by the libertarian dialoguing deputies, Fabián Luayza, Viviana Romano, and Martín Rozas.
The Government of the Province of Buenos Aires released the results of the Digital Wellbeing Survey conducted by the Provincial Directorate of Information Technology, under the General Directorate of Culture and Education. In the report, which surveyed about 90,332 students from Buenos Aires aged between 12 and 19 years, it is noted that 19.1 percent engaged in online betting, and 60.4 percent know someone who has bet at some time.
According to the survey, 3.7 percent of the surveyed students are frequent bettors, meaning they bet at least once a month. Moreover, 1.8 percent do so on a weekly basis. This is the area where specialists are most focused, given the complexity and concern it generates. "This is one of the largest surveys ever conducted in our country on this issue," the authorities noted regarding the study.
