The addiction of online sports gambling: "Like crack in the '80s"

Profit comes from addicts, not casual players. Gambling is a parasitic practice that harms communitites[1]. The bookmakers all know this, but obviously pretend otherwise.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/25/life...

is it the substance that's addictive or is it the relief and respite it provides from this capitalist hellscape we're all drowning in?

Well you aren’t allowed to say pot is addictive on the internet or you will be downvoted to negative infinity. It’s generally cool to say social media is addictive though. Wonder why pot has more defenders than social media, people enjoy both.

I'd like to see the UCLA study which showed that in states that legalized marijuana, bankruptcies and credit card delinquencies increased about 25%.

Admittedly, I didn't read the whole article but I didn't see anything about banning social media and/or putting pot stores on every corner to compete with the liquor/tobacco stores. Seems like something they would have put in the beginning to draw the reader in, dunno?

What I do know from living on this planet for over half a century is that gambling and alcohol and certain drugs are very addictive and have the tendency of ruining people's lives. Pretty much common knowledge at this point, one would have thought...