Tax gambling firms to fund addiction treatment, says NHS director

Intervention comes amid review of laws governing betting sector and plans for new gambling clinics as addiction cases spike

• ‘Every other advert will be for gambling’: Addicts tell of their lockdown struggle

Gambling firms have profited during the pandemic but are leaving the NHS to “pick up the pieces” of addiction and should be hit with a compulsory levy to fund treatment, the head of mental health in England has said.

Claire Murdoch – national mental health director for NHS England – denounced the voluntary system that lets the industry dictate how much it contributes to helping addicts.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3wsutLH