The former president of the House of Representatives, José Aponte Hernández, asked the Health Services and Addiction Administration (ASSMCA) to develop a campaign to prevent addiction to betting on sporting events (sports betting).
In the same way, the statesman leader asked the Gaming Commission to do the same before the boom that is expected with the entry into Puerto Rico of sports betting.
“My position on this issue – that of betting and gambling – remains the same. They promote serious mental health situations in our people. Study after study details that media campaigns to bet promoting betting promote, in addition, the addition to games and now with the entry of sport betting, it is expected that this situation will worsen. That’s why we have to establish new parameters to prevent addiction to sports betting,” said Aponte Hernández.
The at-large representative said that the Program of Assistance to Compulsive Gamblers, attached to the ASSMCA, can serve as a basis for the creation of a campaign aimed at preventing abuse in sports betting, as well as establishing support plans for those citizens who become addicted to this type of gambling.
“me estaré comunicando con el director ejecutivo de la ASSMCA, doctor Carlos Rodriguez Mateo, para compartir con él mi inquietud sobre la necesidad de un programa dedicado para atender los asuntos de la adicción a esta nueva forma de apuestas. En los Estados Unidos esto ha levantado muchas preocupaciones, precisamente por el aumento en casos de adicción de juegos. Tanto es así, que la liga deportiva profesional más grande en la nación, la NFL, ha enviado sobre seis millones de dólares al Concilio Nacional contra la Adicción al Juego para campañas de prevención e intervención”, sentenció Aponte Hernández, quien además adelantó que se encuentra evaluando legislación para crear un programa con el fin de atender los jugadores compulsivos asociados al sport betting.
“Gambling addiction is a mental health and impulse control issue. It controls the person, like drugs, because gambling becomes the most important thing in his life. In fact, it is proven that gambling addiction is more expensive and difficult for the addict to overcome, so I have always raised the need to prevent these conditions,” added the New Progressive Party legislator.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court authorized sports betting, leaving it to states and jurisdictions to regulate it.
