Pietro MolinaroPresident of the Regional Council Commission against the ‘ndrangheta phenomenon, wrote to the mayors of Calabria to implement monitoring on the application of regional law no. 9/2018, which places limitations on the operation of games with cash winnings, and also assigns municipal administrations the role of supervising the application of the law.
In his communication to the mayors, we read: “it is now known that the widespread diffusion of games with cash winnings, especially in Calabria, is causing victims both in terms of families in a state of over-indebtedness and at risk of usurious debt, and in terms of people subjected to pathological addiction. To stem this phenomenon, article 16 of regional law n. 9/2018 provides for various countermeasures.
In particular, article 16 provides for the direct role of municipal administrations, in relation to the application of sanctions and in relation to the identification of sensitive places from which amusement arcades must be placed at a safe distance.”
Among the measures established by law there is the limitation of daily opening hours which can no longer be 24 hours, as happened in the past.
For these reasons, the President of the Anti-Drangheta Commission, in full collaboration, asked the mayors to be informed on the state of implementation of the regional legislation in the individual municipalities, and in particular the number and extent of the sanctions applied by the municipality, as well as the identification of sensitive places (in addition to those already provided for by regional law), from which the game rooms must be positioned at a safe distance.
In clarifying the purpose of his initiative, Molinaro stated that: “the widespread diffusion of games with cash winnings is producing increasingly devastating economic and health consequences also in Calabria. The Calabria Region has created a barrier to the uncontrolled spread of this phenomenon by setting limits within law no. 9/2018 and it is up to the mayors to verify and implement this legislation.
During 2025 a series of events will be organized to raise public and institutional awareness of this serious gambling phenomenon. Among these, in particular, the Day against the risks of gambling, established by regional law n. 9/2018, and which will see the involvement, not only of the mayors, but also of all the Calabrian health authorities that are already committed to implementing the prevention and treatment projects for pathological gambling.”
