This is one thing that needs to be properly addressed, the "gambling can be addictive" narrative. I've taken a lot of drugs, and still do to a lesser extent - I've never had a super addictive response to drugs, and thus assumed i didnt have addictive personality traits. No walk in the park drugs neither, from weed to spice, from ecstasy to 2cb, from shrooms to acid, from cocaine to meth, nothing to brag about, but its just context for what im going to say, and that is that gambling is far and away to most addictive thing ive engaged in. I dont think it even comes close, though thats my experience, but it was something that took me some time to realise.

My argument against this wording is saying “can be addictive” implies that it’s a rare outcome or conditional — which understates the truth, especially given gambling’s intentionally addictive design (intermittent reinforcement, variable reward loops, etc.). You see, i think theres two simple reasons why it doesnt say such, and it wont say such anytime soon, and thats because similarly to alcohol, gambling has become mainstream, culturally intertwined, and therefore largely socially accepted. We all knew someone at all stages of our lives who gambled, in my country something like 80% of people place a bet at least once a year, according to studies. This, similarly to alcohol, will stop companies who are gaining such a large consumer base and filling their big fat pig pockets full from outright saying it is addictive. This has been a back and forth battle for decades with alcohol. Notice, in the west, you will very very rarely see "alcohol is addictive, drink responsibly", which it is, it cant be argued that it isnt, not coherently anyway. It would turn people away, and even if it is only a relatively small number of people, these greedy bastards wont rest for anything less than the absolute most profit they can possibly achieve. Many studies have been done in regards to alcohol warnings advertised on tv and the lack of proper education they give to the public, and the consequences. Everything occurring or that has occurred with alcohol in this sense, can be viewed directly parallel with gambling. It's proven to be addictive, not that it possibly maybe if unlucky it could be addictive. No. And i doubt theres any logical argument one can make against what im saying as the huge influx of new players now playing, some (not an isolated case) as young as 8 years old according to media reports, and kinda shockingly theres even been studies done in one or more countries that im sure someone can find fairly easily if they wanted to, that has determined the average age that people started gambling in this/these particular country/ies was something like 14 or 15, on average.

Of course the second reason is obvious, and thats the greed of the governments who profit heavily off gambling. Remember, the people who are telling you to be safe and bla bla bla, these are the guys who receive money from the casinos by way of license fees, income tax, gaming taxes, regulatory contributions and VAT. Governments receive a shit load of money from casinos in the countries they can operate in. Thats why its rare to see gambling banned outright, even in countries with a very strict view on gambling, like China, where of course Macau is located.

The last thing governments care about is the citizen's wellbeing, this shouldnt need to be stated.

If anyone has actually read this, you are likely in the higher iq bracket of people that can read more than 2 sentences before confusion, hysteria, or adhd kicks in, so give yourself a pat on the back.

I'm open to counter arguments which i will briskly demolish.