Gift Responsibly in 2019
Published: December 2, 2019
Lottery Tickets Aren’t Child’s Play.
It’s that time of year again. We’re all rushing around in search of the perfect gift – and when it comes down to the time-tested tradition of last-minute holiday shopping, a lot of people turn to lottery tickets as a gift add-on. They’re fun, but our goal is to make sure that lottery tickets are never given to minors.
While lottery tickets may make great gifts for adults, they aren’t appropriate for children. Research shows that exposure to gambling behaviors at a young age can lead to more severe gambling disorders later in life. Those gambling disorders have also been linked to other addictive behaviors such as smoking, drinking and drug use.
Let’s make it “the most responsible time of the year” by discouraging the gifting of lottery products to minors. Lottery and other gambling games are not appropriate for children. Ohio Lottery games are for people age 18 and older. That’s why each year, Before You Bet is proud to support the National Council on Problem Gambling’s holiday campaign to help raise awareness of the risks of underage lottery play.
Over the past eleven years, participation in the Responsible Gambling Holiday Lottery Campaign has grown tremendously. In 2018, 100% of U.S. and Canadian lotteries participated. This year, the campaign has continued to grow making such significant changes as:
- Allowing non-lottery organizations to participate.
- Allowing lotteries to participate at one of three different levels of involvement.
For more information on this year’s campaign, visit https://www.ncpgambling.org/programs-resources/programs/holiday-lottery-campaign/.
To learn more about responsible gambling practices, visit BeforeYouBet.org.