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By Marty Schladen for Ohio Capital Journal Since online sports gambling became legal in Ohio in 2023, sports scandals have been mounting. Getting less attention is the human toll, which has grown rapidly. With the stress of the holidays — and college and professional football playoffs — approaching, a Columbus-based clinician said it’s important to understand when gambling passes from being simple fun to a real problem. Kelley Breidigan is an assistant clinical professor at Ohio State’s College of Social Work. She said that measures of problem gambling have been on the rise in all 38 states that have legalized online sports betting. “Most folks are assigning this to the Supreme Court decision in 2018 that allowed states to legalize and regulate sports betting,” she said. “With that legalization, what we’re starting to see is that as online betting increased, it coincided with record-breaking demand for help for gambling addiction.” The costs of problem gambling can be demonstrated several ways. For example, people’s financial health has deteriorated in a big way. The UCLA Anderson School of Management in April reported that entire states’ average credit scores took a hit when sports betting was legalized. That’s not just the average credit scores of gamblers, but of everybody in the state. “Our main finding is that overall consumers’ financial health is modestly deteriorating as the average credit score in states with legalized sports gambling decreases by roughly 0.8 points,” the report said. “When states introduce access to online sports gambling, average credit scores decline by nearly three times as much (2.75 points). The decline in credit score is associated with changes in indicators of excessive debt.” Not surprisingly, the researchers also found an increase in other, more serious problems. “We find a substantial increase in average bankruptcy rates, debt sent to collections, use of debt consolidation loans, and auto loan delinquencies,” the UCLA report said. “Together, these results indicate that the ease of access to sports gambling is harming consumer financial health by increasing their level of debt.” In Connecticut, 12.4% of lottery revenue and 51% of sports betting revenue comes from about 2% of people with severe gambling addiction, a 2024 report from Gemini Research shows. Amid accusations that big-time players are rigging at least parts of games, Gov. Mike DeWine last month told the Associated Press that he regrets signing Ohio’s sports betting law. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio. He’s taken steps to limit bets on minor aspects of games — or “prop” bets — that seem particularly prone to abuse. Speaking of the gambling companies, DeWine referred to “the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet…” the AP reported. Breidigan, the Ohio State clinician, said that marketing sends the message that sports betting is a normal, safe activity. Indeed, watch any sports broadcast and you’re likely to see Kevin Hart and LeBron James laughing it up as they promote the Draft Kings betting platform. Breidigan said such promotion and the ease of betting via cell phone have mainlined gambling to a huge new audience. “This was always relegated to the fringes of society — people who had gambling issues. What this did is completely normalize gambling,” she said. “It made it so easy for people to just pick up their phone and make a bet. That has had a severe impact on individuals and families.” In addition to deteriorating finances, other social costs are mounting. There are an estimated 255,000 problem gamblers in Ohio. And the United Way of Greater Cleveland reported a 277% increase in gambling-related calls to its helpline in the first month of legalized sports betting when compared to a year earlier. Even though legalized gambling creates a stream tax revenue, it’s still a losing bet in terms of public policy, the peer-reviewed journal Public Health reported in October 2024. It cited studies in Sweden and France finding that the social costs of gambling outweighed the taxes it generated. And, as people develop gambling problems, they can face catastrophic personal consequences, the report said. “Rates of attempted suicide and suicidal ideation are much higher among individuals with serious gambling problems and/or clinically diagnosed Gambling Disorder than among the general population,” it said. “Rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts have been found to be even higher among individuals in treatment for Gambling Disorder: as high as 81.4% for suicidal ideation and 30.2% for suicide attempts in the past 12 months.” Breidigan said that it’s important to understand that problem gambling functions in ways similar to problems with substances. “What I think a lot of people don’t realize is that gambling actually stimulates the brain’s reward system just like drugs or alcohol,” she said. Advertisements for sports betting apps are seen in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 29. “The way our brains are set up, once it acclimates to a certain activity or substance or whatever it is, it needs more to get the same kind of dopamine hit to get that feel-good response.” The reasons some people might be more prone to problem gambling than others can vary. Bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders as well as depression might underlie a gambling problem. But so can many other things, Breidigan said. It’s important to recognize when gambling goes from being an amusement to something more. That’s when people “develop an incredible preoccupation with gambling. They’re constantly thinking about it. They’re planning it. There are increased bets… You’ll see them where they’re chasing losses — they’re trying to win back that money that they lost,” Breidigan said. As with other addictions, problem gambling often reaches a point where it damages families. “A lot of times we see a lot of lying that really affects the family and friends because they’re hiding the extent of the losses that they have,” Breidigan said. “There’s a huge issue where they’re borrowing money. They’ve got unpaid bills. They’re selling possessions so that they can keep funding their gambling.” As with other forms of addiction, help is available for problem gamblers. Breitigan said it’s important for people to get over their embarrassment, and understand that they’re far from alone. She said a good place to begin seeking help is the Ohio problem gambling helpline. “There are some people who try very hard, but despite their best efforts, they’re still engaging in this harmful behavior,” Breitigan said. “Oftentimes it’s friends and family saying, ‘You need help.’ If you’re hearing those sorts of things, or thinking about them yourself, it’s probably a good idea to talk to someone. The job of a mental health professional is not to shame. There’s absolutely no point in that.”
By Marty Schladen for Ohio Capital Journal Since online sports gambling became legal in Ohio in 2023, sports scandals have been mounting. Getting less attention is the human toll, which has grown rapidly. With the stress of the holidays — and college and professional football playoffs — approaching, a Columbus-based clinician said it’s important to understand when gambling passes from being simple fun to a real problem. Kelley Breidigan is an assistant clinical professor at Ohio State’s College of Social Work. She said that measures of problem gambling have been on the rise in all 38 states that have legalized online sports betting. “Most folks are assigning this to the Supreme Court decision in 2018 that allowed states to legalize and regulate sports betting,” she said. “With that legalization, what we’re starting to see is that as online betting increased, it coincided with record-breaking demand for help for gambling addiction.” The costs of problem gambling can be demonstrated several ways. For example, people’s financial health has deteriorated in a big way. The UCLA Anderson School of Management in April reported that entire states’ average credit scores took a hit when sports betting was legalized. That’s not just the average credit scores of gamblers, but of everybody in the state. “Our main finding is that overall consumers’ financial health is modestly deteriorating as the average credit score in states with legalized sports gambling decreases by roughly 0.8 points,” the report said. “When states introduce access to online sports gambling, average credit scores decline by nearly three times as much (2.75 points). The decline in credit score is associated with changes in indicators of excessive debt.” Not surprisingly, the researchers also found an increase in other, more serious problems. “We find a substantial increase in average bankruptcy rates, debt sent to collections, use of debt consolidation loans, and auto loan delinquencies,” the UCLA report said. “Together, these results indicate that the ease of access to sports gambling is harming consumer financial health by increasing their level of debt.” In Connecticut, 12.4% of lottery revenue and 51% of sports betting revenue comes from about 2% of people with severe gambling addiction, a 2024 report from Gemini Research shows. Amid accusations that big-time players are rigging at least parts of games, Gov. Mike DeWine last month told the Associated Press that he regrets signing Ohio’s sports betting law. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio. He’s taken steps to limit bets on minor aspects of games — or “prop” bets — that seem particularly prone to abuse. Speaking of the gambling companies, DeWine referred to “the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet…” the AP reported. Breidigan, the Ohio State clinician, said that marketing sends the message that sports betting is a normal, safe activity. Indeed, watch any sports broadcast and you’re likely to see Kevin Hart and LeBron James laughing it up as they promote the Draft Kings betting platform. Breidigan said such promotion and the ease of betting via cell phone have mainlined gambling to a huge new audience. “This was always relegated to the fringes of society — people who had gambling issues. What this did is completely normalize gambling,” she said. “It made it so easy for people to just pick up their phone and make a bet. That has had a severe impact on individuals and families.” In addition to deteriorating finances, other social costs are mounting. There are an estimated 255,000 problem gamblers in Ohio. And the United Way of Greater Cleveland reported a 277% increase in gambling-related calls to its helpline in the first month of legalized sports betting when compared to a year earlier. Even though legalized gambling creates a stream tax revenue, it’s still a losing bet in terms of public policy, the peer-reviewed journal Public Health reported in October 2024. It cited studies in Sweden and France finding that the social costs of gambling outweighed the taxes it generated. And, as people develop gambling problems, they can face catastrophic personal consequences, the report said. “Rates of attempted suicide and suicidal ideation are much higher among individuals with serious gambling problems and/or clinically diagnosed Gambling Disorder than among the general population,” it said. “Rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts have been found to be even higher among individuals in treatment for Gambling Disorder: as high as 81.4% for suicidal ideation and 30.2% for suicide attempts in the past 12 months.” Breidigan said that it’s important to understand that problem gambling functions in ways similar to problems with substances. “What I think a lot of people don’t realize is that gambling actually stimulates the brain’s reward system just like drugs or alcohol,” she said. Advertisements for sports betting apps are seen in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 29. “The way our brains are set up, once it acclimates to a certain activity or substance or whatever it is, it needs more to get the same kind of dopamine hit to get that feel-good response.” The reasons some people might be more prone to problem gambling than others can vary. Bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders as well as depression might underlie a gambling problem. But so can many other things, Breidigan said. It’s important to recognize when gambling goes from being an amusement to something more. That’s when people “develop an incredible preoccupation with gambling. They’re constantly thinking about it. They’re planning it. There are increased bets… You’ll see them where they’re chasing losses — they’re trying to win back that money that they lost,” Breidigan said. As with other addictions, problem gambling often reaches a point where it damages families. “A lot of times we see a lot of lying that really affects the family and friends because they’re hiding the extent of the losses that they have,” Breidigan said. “There’s a huge issue where they’re borrowing money. They’ve got unpaid bills. They’re selling possessions so that they can keep funding their gambling.” As with other forms of addiction, help is available for problem gamblers. Breitigan said it’s important for people to get over their embarrassment, and understand that they’re far from alone. She said a good place to begin seeking help is the Ohio problem gambling helpline. “There are some people who try very hard, but despite their best efforts, they’re still engaging in this harmful behavior,” Breitigan said. “Oftentimes it’s friends and family saying, ‘You need help.’ If you’re hearing those sorts of things, or thinking about them yourself, it’s probably a good idea to talk to someone. The job of a mental health professional is not to shame. There’s absolutely no point in that.”
Daily Kos
With human costs of gambling mounting in Ohio, more are seeking help
By Marty Schladen for� Ohio Capital Journal
Since online sports gambling became legal in Ohio in 2023, sports scandals have been mounting. Gett...
A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump: Actually, the Epstein scandal is great for me The man never polls better than he does in his own head. ‘Release the damn files’: Outgoing GOP senator slams Trump over Epstein At this point, we’ll take any criticism of Trump from the right. Secret memo reportedly reveals Trump doesn't actually care about the border Who needs borders when you can just deport anyone you don’t like? Trump deals another blow to American automakers Make America walk everywhere. Big Lie-boosting election clerk is begging for Trump to save her Tina Peters simply will not go away. Cartoon: Ozzy RIP to the Prince of Darkness. Conservative rich dudes think they'll Make Movies Great Again Ah, yes, a Palantir-Ayn Rand mashup. Just what literally no one wanted. Click here to see more cartoons.
Conservatives in America control every lever of the federal government’s power, but they remain infuriated that they do not control the levers of culture and entertainment. Surely that cannot be because the type of entertainment they push is garbage no one wants to watch. No, it must be because the right studio, backed by the right multimillionaires, hasn’t come along. Enter Founders Films—ugh. Backed by high-level employees of Vice President JD Vance benefactor Peter Thiel’s Palantir Technologies, surely this will be the way that conservatives crack the entertainment market. Do Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Sankar, early Palantir employee Ryan Podolsky, or investor Christian Garrett have any particular background that would make you want to give them money to run a studio? Not particularly, although Sankar is getting to play-act as a soldier, having been one of four tech executives that the Army invented a detachment for. Why? So that they could all pretend to be lieutenant colonels despite never having served a day. Shhh. No one tell Sankar, as he thinks it is real and did a wildly embarrassing piece about it for Bari Weiss’s Free Press for Eugenics Enthusiasts. Related |Army gives shady offer to tech bros so they can play soldier So, what do these big brains have planned once they sucker some other multimillionaires out of their not-actually-hard-earned money? Such blockbuster ideas as “Operation: Pineapple Express” about the “botched withdrawal” from Afghanistan; a 9/11 movie celebrating “courage”; and a yet-unnamed flick about the 2020 assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Surely all of those will be blockbusters. Move over, Marvel! There’s also a three-part adaptation of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” planned, because of course there is. Were the people demanding a new Ayn Rand trilogy? Couldn’t they just go watch the trilogy that came out like 15 years ago? Sure, the first part got mercilessly panned by critics, and the second part got mercilessly panned by critics, and the third part got mercilessly panned by critics. Actual moviegoers didn’t, well, actually go, particularly by the time Part III rolled around. But surely now America is ready for six to nine hours of Ayn Rand beamed into their eyeballs, right? Hopefully Founders Films will have better luck than the producers of the previous trilogy, who had to recall 100,000 DVDs because the jacket described Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged: as “a timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice,” and Randians 100% do not believe in self-sacrifice. Perhaps Americans will rush to the cineplex to see some other Founders Films fixations, which will be “unafraid of offending Chinese audiences” and will use “American cultural power to spread skeptical views of the Chinese government.” Definitely what we are all looking for. Actor Gina Carano’s extremist views got her shunned by mainstream Hollywood producers. But Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire Studio gave her another chance to flame out. No matter how much money the Palantir dudes and their pals throw at this exercise, it’s likely just going to be Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire Studio 2.0. Did you know conservative gadfly Shapiro had a movie studio? Okay, be honest: Did you know Ben Shapiro had a movie studio because you were ever organically aware of one of his entertainment offerings, or only because of coverage of his failed attempts to break out of the right-wing ecosphere? Thought so. Shapiro’s studio already offers what Founders Films promises: jingoistic trolling starring a combination of fading stars and people that the rest of Hollywood doesn’t want to work with because it’s weird when people keep yelling about wokeness when you’re just trying to do your job. Who could have predicted that “Terror on the Prairie,” a 2022 Daily Wire joint starring Gina Carano after she went full anti-vaxxer transphobe, would have flopped? Everyone, actually. In the end, perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing. If conservatives want to light their money on fire by giving it to other millionaires to make bad, ham-handed movies that no one wants to watch, who are we to say no?
In another concession to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the Trump administration shut down a crucial program that catalogued war crime. This included a database that tracked the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia—another obvious sign that President Donald Trump has little to no care for the wellbeing of children. Managed through an initiative at Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the database played an important role in the International Criminal Court’s 2023 charges against Putin related to the illegal deportation of children. Researchers were informed last month that the State Department had “quietly” terminated the contract to comply with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, though sources say that the database may have been deleted in the confusion wrought by DOGE’s cuts. “We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted,” Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The news comes after a report from The New York Times about the Trump administration halting food testing programs and shutting down a group that studied bacteria in infant formula. “It’s as if someone, without enough information, has said, What’s a good way to save money on our automobiles? Let’s just take out the seatbelts and airbags, because do we really need them?” Darin Detwiler, a food safety consultant and associate professor at Northeastern University, told the Times. Cartoon by Clay Bennett Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has exposed his lack of integrity when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable populations, particularly through his awful mishandling of the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas. Couple that with Kennedy’s plan to destroy children's teeth by eliminating fluoride from drinking water, and the threat to U.S. children’s health is glaring. Before that, the Department of Agriculture pulled $1 billion in funding for programs that helped feed school-aged and low-income children. The programs, which were created during the Biden administration, provided funding to local farmers and food vendors to help combat food insecurity. And, of course, Trump has made it clear that he plans to dismantle the Department of Education, which Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been working toward by firing half of the department’s staff. But the harm to children goes far beyond Trump, with the GOP’s legion of creeps frequently being connected to accusations of child abuse. For example, Trump’s short-lived attorney general nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, allegedly paid multiple women—including a child—for sex, according to a damning ethics report. And Gaetz’s former associate and alleged party bro Joel Greenberg was sentenced to 11 years in prison for various crimes, including sex trafficking of a minor. Similarly, just last month the Trump administration was trying to assist alleged rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate and his brother in their extradition case. More recently, Minnesota’s MAGA state Sen. Justin Eichorn was arrested in a police sting for allegedly soliciting a minor for sex. His arrest came just days after one of Trump’s former “spiritual advisers,” Robert Morris, was indicted and charged with five counts of “lewd or indecent acts to a child,” stemming from when he was traveling evangelist in 1982. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of the hypocrisy displayed by Trump and Republicans who claim to crusade for children’s welfare yet enact policies and maintain alliances that actively cause them harm. Campaign Action
Billionaire Elon Musk is using his sway within Donald Trump’s administration to try to destroy the United States Agency for International Development. USAID handles U.S. aid to foreign projects around public health, education, disaster relief, and promoting democracy abroad. On Monday, congressional Democrats condemned Musk’s actions, calling them illegal during a press conference outside of the closed USAID headquarters. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut singled out Musk’s business interests in China, which many people believe encouraged Musk to torpedo the House GOP’s spending bill in December. “China is cheering at this action today,” Murphy said. Murphy: "Let's not pull any punches about why this is happening. Elon Musk makes billions off of his business with China. And China is cheering at this action today. There is no question that the billionaire class trying to take over our govt right now is doing it based on self-interest."— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-02-03T18:26:04.635Z “Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payment systems of the United States Department of Treasury,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said. “But you don’t control the money of the American people. The United States Congress does that under Article 1 of the Constitution.” Raskin called the billionaire’s actions an “outrageous, scandalous, illegal maneuver.” The congressman questioned the target of Musk’s attempted budget cuts, noting the Pentagon, whose budget is more than 20 times the size of the USAID, does not seem to be on Musk’s list. “The Pentagon budget is where the defense contractor, Elon Musk, who became the richest man in the world off of our money, he collects his payments from,” Raskin said. “And now he's trying to shut down USAID. We're not going to allow this to happen. It will not stand.” YouTube Video Musk responded on his hate-filled social media site, X, with a bit of doublespeak that George Orwell would have probably found egregious. 
Trump seems content with the perception that he is running the show, but it is clear that he is out of his depth when it comes to billionaire predators like Musk pulling the strings behind—and now in front—of the scenes. Click here for Daily Kos’ Bluesky Starter Pack. Join us on Bluesky and @#$% Elon Musk!