A new poll indicates that New Jersey residents want to see the number of gambling ads reined in. The Farleigh Dickenson University (FDU) conducted a poll, trying to gauge locals’ attitudes towards gambling advertisements, along with a main focus of whether cell phones ought to be banned in schools.
Gambling advertisements ought to be limited to some extent
New Jerseyans have pronounced themselves overwhelmingly in support of limiting the intensity and overall exposure to gambling advertisements, with 76% agreeing that some form of restriction ought to be introduced. Only 17% of those interviewed argued that there was no need to change the current status quo.
The university’s poll offered a further breakdown across political lines, with Democrats voting 81% in favor and Republicans appearing to be more reluctant, with 74% of their constituents backing a potential limit on the number of advertisements seen by people. Older voters were in fact more likely to call for such restrictions, with 79% of those interviewed that fell in that category answering in the affirmative.
This comes at a time when sports betting, in particular, is surging in popularity across the Garden State and the country. According to another poll conducted by the FDU as recently as September, 10% of young men aged between 18 and 30 are already showing signs of problem gambling, which is a high incidence of the problem when contrasting it with the 3% average for the population.
In other words, young people, and young men in particular, may be exposed to too many gambling advertisements, which is, in turn, driving their gambling habits to the extreme. Sports gambling has been shaping up to be a popular pastime indeed.
New Jersey has been tweaking gambling laws for a while
However, New Jersey has also dropped some of its most restrictive and outdated rules of late. For example, the state has advocated for the decriminalization of underage gambling. In other words, people who are under the legal gambling age and caught gambling would only face a penalty, but no criminal charges if the proposal is adopted.
The state as a whole has been keen to address any potential problems stemming from gambling. Last year, the governor introduced a Responsible Gambling Task Force designed to tackle gambling-related harm in the state and advise on public policy.
