Is gambling harm in a population something closer to a natural disaster than a political choice? New York appears to see it as the former.

New York issued a press release announcing a plan to study gambling behaviors in the state for the next 10 years. Most states don’t do anything this long-term, so New York can get a little credit.

However, what struck me was that numerous state officials did not frame New York’s growing gambling addiction problem as something New York helped cause. That’s deeply alarming for the state’s leadership.

Deflecting Criticism

In recent years, the state expanded legal gambling through several policy initiatives, including online sports betting and Las Vegas-style casinos in New York City. This period marks one of the state’s greatest expansions of gambling in its history, and policymakers have also debated online casino legalization.

Despite “responsible gambling” regulations, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently found population-level harm from legal sports betting. A recent survey from New York’s Siena University also found escalating harm.

If you read the New York gambling study press release, state officials didn’t make it clear that New York did the expansion. This may seem harmless and subtle, but it matters a lot politically.

Let’s look at several lines from five state officials.

• Addiction services official: “As gambling opportunities continue to expand in New York State, we need to be proactive and determine where additional services may be needed to help those affected by gambling addiction.”
• Gambling regulator: “As we’ve seen gambling opportunities increase, so has our responsibility to ensure that those facing gambling harms have prompt access to help.”
• State senator: “As legal gaming continues to expand, it’s important that we also build on our commitment to understanding its impacts and ensuring that prevention, treatment, and recovery resources keep up with that growth.”
• State senator: “As gambling becomes more widely available than ever before, it is critical that we understand how these changes are impacting New Yorkers.”
• Assemblymember: “With the rapid expansion of legal sports betting and mobile gambling, New Yorkers have more opportunities to wager than ever before.”

That’s quite the echo chamber of passive-voiced language on gambling expansion.

Unstoppable?

All of these statements speak as if gambling expansion is a given and inevitable. The comments don’t make clear that the state passed the laws to expand gambling, and now it’s dealing with the fallout.

It sounds like the state didn’t have agency here, that it is responding to an omnipresent gambling expansion force it is powerless to stop. The state is almost like a victim here. In reality, New York laid the foundation for the harm.

As Warren Buffett recently said about sports betting: “I don’t like things that make a sucker out of people. I particularly don’t like them when the government sponsors them.”

Fortunately, there might be opportunity for change, as some New York policymakers and officials want more aggressive action. New York has considered sports betting deposit limits, e-wallet restrictions for online gambling, prohibiting treatment providers from partnering with gambling operators, restricting the betting industry’s use of AI, and improving access to gambling therapy. The state has also taken action against sweepstakes casinos and considered a bill to ban prediction-market-style sports gambling.