Indeed, after Covid, I look at such decisions and any others with critical thinking, because there is no guarantee that it is right or will be done better than it was. And manipulations are certainly committed and I think that this happens quite often, only many without critical thinking do not notice this, and besides this, it is important to have your own opinion, which will protect us from external factors and manipulation. Banning gambling is completely obviously not a very reasonable step for me, because if they do this, players will still find any way to play and so that no one prevents them from doing this, probably even some money will leave the country for other countries and will be lost there, thereby raising the local economy.
I have learned that when a government prohibits something in particular it is because that activity will produce improvements for the population or for some in particular, and they always want to have control of everything, so they are not fair measures, governments manipulate and only want the best for themselves, that is the reality, that they do not say it is another thing.
While analytical thinking is crucial for blanket bans on betting often fails and rebounds, and leads to shady illegal markets , which declines a user security and open space for users. The truth is limited income gamblers face a lot of damage when it's made legal , but complete bans eliminate tools like self-renunciation, put limits and restrictions and structured support systems. What would be more efficient is dealing with gambling as a public health problem, And other reforms like putting a barrier on aggressive advertising, implementing pre-commitment strategies, finance treatment and comply with the law while being strongly enforced is which seems more reasonable to me.