The lottery is a game that is meant to be played only by adults and shops must prohibit the selling of scratch-off tickets to minors.
The campaign ‘’Lottery Tickets are Not Child’s Play’’ is held for the fifth successive year and was inaugurated from the Responsible Play Partnership, which is made up of the New York Lottery, the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and the New York Council on Problem Gambling. In general, the law does not prohibit people under 18 years old from playing a scratch-off ticket but prohibits the purchase of lottery tickets. Thus, in any place where alcohol is served, it is allowed to buy lottery tickets strictly by people over 21 years old.
“The earlier a young person is introduced to gambling, the more likely they are to become problem gamblers as adults,” Arlene González-Sánchez, New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services commissioner, said. Specifically, she pointed out that adults should not encourage young people to buy lottery tickets, even if it seems like a fun pastime, because they give the wrong message and do not constitute the good role models.
It is important to mention that the lottery has received publicity in recent months for whopping grand prizes as the two previous months Mega Millions ticket sales jumped with the jackpot rising $1.6 billion.
However, Jim Maney, the executive director of New York Council on Problem Gambling, raised a concern and passed a message by stating: “We discourage youth involvement in any form of gambling, including lottery scratch-off tickets.”
