> "Emergency room visits for gambling disorders"

Huh?

> "More than 70 per cent of gambling disorder emergency department visits involved another mental health condition or heavy substance use and almost one-third of the visits led to hospital admission."

I assume they mean that these emergency visits were for things like drug overdoses and psychotic episodes in people who had gambling disorders, not for the gambling disorders themselves. What a strange way of writing this up.

Privately funded health care solves this.

Our incredible brains are easily high-jacked. Another concerning trend in global/societal mental health that stresses different parts of it (e.g. increased ER visits). If the entirety of humanity is a connected mind let's say, and more and more parts of it are being damaged by companies that capitalize on "flaws" in the human brain -- which means our shared mentality keeps weakening and can be exploited more and more. It's just so much easier now because there is a machine in your pocket full of endless ways to high-jack your mind and attention.

We live in really crazy/fascinating times, accelerating human problems at "internet scale".

> In 2024, Ontarians wagered $82.7 billion CAD on these sites through 2.6 million player accounts.

Truly astounding numbers. Without a doubt, online gambling is the most preventable public health crisis of our generation. None of this had any business getting legalized.

I'm getting sick of the ads. It's in every NHL commercial break, Rogan (though I don't know about it now) has them as sponsors

Guys, it's predatory. Stop

Let me guess - because some people are unable to consume this form of entertainment responsibly, we have to make it illegal for everyone?

Makes sense. While we’re at it let’s kick the war on drugs back into high gear, reinstate prohibition, and make other higher risk behavior illegal.

Unfortunately I fail to empathise with gamblers not because I think they deserve to be afflicted by this disease but simply because I have never found gambling appealing as an activity.

I bought a few lottery tickets when the prize reaches astronomical proportions but it was always a case of going along and doing it with family/friends just for fun.

I guess I could understand the appeal if the chances to actually win something were pretty good but it’s a well known fact that the house always wins in the end.