Gov. Kathy Hochul knows New Yorkers have a problem.

Last week, her State of the State proposals included measures to “strengthen prevention, treatment, and harm reduction around problem gambling.” 

These include forcing health insurers to cover addiction treatment and installing “gambling recovery services,” including jobs for “peer advocates,” in 16 community centers across the state.

It’s a tacit admission of the harms that have accompanied the state’s legalization of casinos in 2013 and sports betting in 2022.

Gambling addiction has spread nationwide — particularly among young men — and in New York, too.

As my colleague Charles Lehman notes, legalizing betting measurably worsens the harms of addiction.

One recent study found that once a state legalizes online sports betting, irresponsible gambling increases by 372%, and gambling helplines experience a 75% surge in calls.

Since 2020, calls to New York’s crisis support hotline have spiked 30.7%, to 3,064 in 2024.

In neighboring New Jersey, nearly one in five adults ages 18 to 24 is at high risk for problem gambling, and a third in that group gamble exclusively online, Rutgers University researchers found.

For many, the dopamine rush ends in........

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