22nd December 2020
| By Richard Mulligan
The professional body for psychiatrists in the Republic of Ireland has called for an outright ban on gambling advertisement in sports from early 2021.
In publishing its Gambling Disorder Position Paper, the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPI) said there was overwhelming evidence for a connection between the high volume of betting advertisements and an increase in problem gambling.
It said measures including an “urgent, outright ban” on advertising and the introduction of dedicated treatment pathways are necessary to tackle what it considers to be a public health crisis.
The CPI said anecdotal information from Consultant Addiction Psychiatrists indicates a concerning rise in gambling disorders referrals amid Covid-19 lockdowns, due to isolation, more opportunity to gamble while working from home and higher levels of targeted online advertising.