Last week, the state of Iowa passed a new piece of legislation focused on providing problem gamblers with a new way to keep themselves out of local casino and gaming venues.
At present times, players are given the chance to voluntarily exclude themselves from entering casinos and gambling facilities for life. The new bill passed to the Iowa Senate would allow problem gamblers to enter gambling floors five years after the initial ban was established. In these cases, gamblers would become subjected to a ban that would be renewed every five years.
In other words, the new piece of legislation would provide addicted players with the chance to choose for themselves either a lifetime ban, or a renewable ban every five years.
Senator Robie Smith, who is a Representative of Davenport, commented on the bill and said that lifetime ban was found more scary by people, which is why many problem gamblers preferred to keep the problem to themselves instead of making the first step toward suitable treatment. As reported by some health specialists, the lifetime ban is considered to be scaring people away because it is supposed to last forever. According to Senator Smith, the new piece of legislation had been supposed to make more people exclude themselves from gambling in local casinos and turn to specialists who would provide them with the help needed.
Smith also commented that the bill received the full support of the behavioural specialists and cited a statement issued by the Iowa Behavioural Health Association which represents local counselling agencies which specialise in the field of gambling treatments. Lobbyists who backed the piece of legislation also commented on the matter, saying they decided to give their support to the legislation, because they believed that would help more problem gamblers get the treatment they needed.
This is not the first time when such a piece of legislation is pushed into the agenda of the Iowa Senate. A few years ago, in 2013, a similar bill was vetoed by the Governor Branstad. The latter has pointed out that treatment experts considered gambling as an addiction which lasts for a lifetime, and explained that according to him, the voluntary exclusion from gambling facilities served a great public purpose.
- Author
Daniel Williams
