WATCH and share yesterday's panel "America's New Storm of Gambling Advertising: A Dangerous Threat to Public Health"

 

Below is the link to watch yesterday's important event "America's New Storm of Gambling Advertising: A Threat to Public Health" that featured Mark A. Gottlieb, executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law, and Harry Levant, Director of Education for Stop Predatory Gambling. If you weren't able to attend, it's a must-watch. Mark and Harry powerfully revealed the truth about what is really happening in our communities and across our country. After you watch it, I strongly urge you to share the video on your email list and and your social media networks, inviting people to learn for themselves how serious the problem of predatory gambling has become. I also strongly encourage you to share the video with every local, state, and federal official in your region, along with members of the local and state media. The video is posted to our YouTube channel and can be watched here: https://youtu.be/12FtoYCE9jU Brief background about each speaker is below.   About the Speakers: Mark A. Gottlieb is the executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law, where he is also a lecturer and clinical instructor. Mark has focused his research and advocacy on tobacco litigation as a public health strategy for most of his career. His article, "Casinos: An Addiction Industry in the Mold of Tobacco and Opioid Drugs" (co-authored with Daynard and Friedman) was recently published in the University of Illinois Law Review. You can read his article here.   Harry Levant is the Director of Education for Stop Predatory Gambling and a public health advocate from Philadelphia. A gambling addict in recovery who made his last bet on April 27, 2014, Levant is dedicating his professional work to helping people and families to overcome struggles with gambling addiction and other substance disorders. In his role as an advocate, Levant will graduate from La Salle University with a Masters in Professional Counseling in May 2022. He is a member of numerous professional organizations including Chi Sigma Iota National Honor Society for Counselors, the American Counseling Association, the Pennsylvania Counseling Association, and Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania. He also earned a law degree from Temple University Law School.   It is only because of the selfless financial generosity of our members that we are able to fund important events like this national webinar. If you support our mission to reveal the truth behind commercialize​d​ ​gambling operators to prevent more victim​s​, ​​please ​​become a member of our national network by making a gift of any size you can afford today. Thank you. Best, Les Bernal Stop Predatory Gambling _______________________________ Who We Are — - A 501c3 non-profit based in Washington, DC, we are a national network of citizens and organizations across the U.S. revealing the truth behind gambling operators to prevent more victims. - By choosing to support Stop Predatory Gambling today, you’re taking an active role in efforts to protect your community and its children from the poverty, addiction, and human suffering caused by the greed of big gambling operators. Please help sustain our work by making a tax-deductible, financial gift today of $10 or more. - We are one of the most diverse organizations in the United States, consisting of citizens of all political stripes with members from all 50 states.

Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation 100 Maryland Avenue NE, Room 310  | Washington, District of Columbia 20002 (202) 567-6996 | les@stoppredatorygambling.org

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Calling for the Withdrawal of the Nomination of Brad Hill to the MA Gambling Commission

 

We sent the letter below to Governor Baker, Attorney General Healey, and Treasurer Goldberg calling on them to withdraw the nomination of State Rep. Brad Hill to the Gambling Commission because of his strong ties to commercialized gambling interests and appoint an individual free from gambling industry influence. As the letter states, Massachusetts citizens were promised that appointees to the state’s Gambling Commission would be highly-qualified individuals free of gambling industry influence. The reason is because the Commission is supposed to provide desperately-needed independent oversight to serve the public interest, not the interest of billion-dollar gambling corporations and their gambling lobbyists. We wish Rep. Hill no ill will but his longtime advocacy on behalf of commercialized gambling interests makes him unfit for this important position. We ask you to please take two actions: 1) Contact the Offices of the Governor, the Attorney General (Policy Division (617) 963-2700 or AGOPolicyGovernment@state.ma.us,) and the State Treasurer call on them to appoint a qualified nominee without ties to the gambling industry. 2) Please share the letter on your Facebook page and ask the members of your social network to also contact the offices referenced above. Thank you. Dear Governor Baker, Attorney General Healey and Treasurer Goldberg, Massachusetts citizens were promised that appointees to the state’s Gambling Commission would be highly-qualified individuals free of gambling industry influence. The reason why is because the Commission is supposed to provide desperately-needed independent oversight to serve the public interest, not the interest of billion-dollar gambling corporations and their gambling lobbyists. The proposed nomination of State Representative Brad Hill to fill a Gambling Commission vacancy does not come anywhere close to this standard. Over the past twenty years, few state legislators have been a bigger friend for the interests of commercialized gambling operators and their lobbyists than Rep. Hill. Governor Baker’s own press release announcing Hill's proposed appointment to the Gambling Commission referred to Hill as “a determined advocate for the Massachusetts gambling industry.” That fact alone makes Rep. Hill unfit for the position. The Gambling Commission requires a “determined advocate” for the people of Massachusetts, not the gambling industry. The role of the state’s Gambling Commission is too critical to merely become another patronage swamp where state legislators with long records of serving gambling interests go to boost their pensions into the six figures. We call on you to withdraw the nomination of Rep. Hill to the Gambling Commission and instead select a highly-qualified individual, free of gambling industry influence, who will put the public interest first. Sincerely, Les Bernal National Director Stop Predatory Gambling   _______________________________ Who We Are — - A 501c3 non-profit based in Washington, DC, we are a national social reform network of citizens and organizations from across the U.S. - By choosing to support Stop Predatory Gambling today, you’re taking an active role in efforts to protect your community and its children from the poverty, addiction, and human suffering caused by the greed of big gambling operators. Please help sustain our work by making a tax-deductible, financial gift today of $10 or more. - We are one of the most diverse organizations in the United States, consisting of citizens of all political stripes with members from all 50 states.

Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation 100 Maryland Avenue NE, Room 310  | Washington, District of Columbia 20002