"Problem gamblers" often report they started gambling at age 9 or 10 in the company of family members, according to a news release from the New jersey Lottery and Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey.
Gambling addiction can start young. So young, in fact, that the New Jersey Lottery and Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey are discouraging adults from giving scratch-off lottery tickets to children as gifts.
The affordable, colorful and readily available tickets are easy to slip into a card or use as a stocking stuffer around the holidays, the groups' leaders said in a news release. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea to give them as gifts to young children, they argue.
"Parents really can make a difference and reduce the risk of children developing gambling problems," Donald Weinbaum, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, said in the release. "Let's send the right message this year and refrain from giving lottery tickets to young children."
The release cites a Yale University study that found children who got instant tickets as a gift started gambling at a younger age than those who did not. "Problem gamblers" often report they started gambling at the age of 9 or 10 in the company of family members, according to the release.
The state law requires adults to be at least 18 years old to purchase lottery tickets. It doesn't ban them from giving tickets to minors, according to the news release. New Jersey set minimum gambling ages for a reason, the groups say, so family and friends should consider ages of their loved ones when giving lottery tickets as a gift.