Most people are not aware of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case, Murphy vs. National Collegiate Athletic Association in 2018. Up until that time, there was a federal ban on sports betting. The 2018 decision overturned that ban.

The original ban was passed in 1992. Only the four states that had sports gambling already in place were allowed to continue it. Those states were Delaware, Nevada, Oregon, and Montana. After the Supreme Court decision in 2018, other states could legalize it.

As of now, 39 states allow legal sports betting. In 2017, about $4.9 billion was bet on sports in the U.S. Now the number is over $121 billion per year.

Associated with the law change was the availability of phone apps for gambling. Thus, individuals could bet anytime and anywhere.

Before the apps allowed betting, the number of things that could be bet on was somewhat limited. You could bet on the winner of the game. You could bet on the points scored.

However, apps allowed instantaneous bets. You could bet on each play of the game and what the result would be. That means there can be multiple bets over the course of the game.

The result has been a surge in gambling. About 22 percent of all adults use mobile sports apps. For men in the age range of 18 to 49, that number goes up to 48 percent.

It should come as no surprise that there are a number of mental health issues associated with this new “epidemic”.

The most serious one is related to the incidence of gambling disorders. Since 2018, the incidence of gambling disorders has increased by 60 percent. Most of it was in the 38 states that allowed gambling.

Most of it was among men in the age group of 30-49 years of age. However, the biggest increases were in men between the ages of 18-29 years.

Of interest is the fact that gambling disorder rates have actually dropped by 30 percent in the states that did not legalize sports gambling.

Recent reports show that minors have easy access to sports betting sites. About 40 percent of teenage boys participate in some kind of online gambling. Some reports show children as young as seven years of age getting access to gambling sites. They have figured out a way around the age limits.

In addition, those using gambling accounts have showed other anxiety provoking situations. The rates of debt increased. Credit card delinquencies increased. Bankruptcies increased.

Depression rates were also higher. Suicide attempt rates went up.

The Supreme Court said that it was leveling the playing field for states so that four of them did not hold a monopoly. That may be the legal thing to do. However, it is not the safest thing to do.

Ads for sports betting are everywhere. They tout the fact that it is so easy for you to do with the app. They also have fine print about where to get gambling disorder help. That kind of sounds like asking the fox to watch the hen house.