“The numbers of the phenomenon of pathological gambling addictions can also be found in the Municipality of Siena and what are the tools most used for the purposes of the same (slot machines, scratch cards etc.)?. Has the Municipal Administration of Siena undertaken monitoring and prevention actions in order to mitigate as much as possible the social discomfort created by such actions including any discussions/collaborations with associations operating in the area of psychological addictions? These are the questions posed in the question presented to the mayor of Siena Nicoletta Fabio by the councilors of the Forza Italia-UDC-Nuovo Psi group Lorenza Bondi (photo) and Marco Falorni and those of the Le Biccherne group Silvia Armini, Michele Cortonesi, Francesca Cesareo and Leonardo Pucci. The document recalls that “the issue of pathological gambling has for years now represented a phenomenon with profound impacts on various strata of the population; that the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, given its growth, has also dedicated a specific toll-free number to which almost 5000 calls arrived in 2023 which, from 2021 to 2023, saw an exponential increase of 88.5%; that, again according to the data, 83% of users who are victims of gambling pathology are represented by the male population; that gambling addiction, even in Italy, has had the clinical and legal recognition of a gambling disorder, therefore classifying itself as an element that undermines the psychological stability and intellectual clarity as well as the economic stability of those who become victims; that the gambling disease has repercussions on the entire community, therefore also representing a social cost given that throughout the national territory there are approximately 200 centers for the treatment of gambling addiction have been opened, within which those suffering from gambling are taken care of; that all this is associated with the drama of families who find themselves sucked into a vortex which sometimes affects even in a heavy way, family budgets”.
