Controversial rapper Drake has recently been named in a lawsuit after allegedly using a third-party website to inflate music streams. An artist in decline looking to pad his numbers is not surprising, and often not particularly criminal; however, hiding the money he was spending from the U.S. government is. Using an online gambling site that he is partnered with, Stake.us, the lawsuit claims, Drake and two accomplices took advantage of “an unlimited and wholly unregulated money transmitter that appears to exist outside the oversight of any financial regulator.” This case represents the growing grey area the legalization of online gambling presents for regulation, and the dangers of addiction it poses for Americans. 

Since online gambling is fairly new, sites like Stake.us are often free of stringent laws that limit real-world gambling, using things like in-site currency, which are subject to the rules of the site, not federal regulation. These currencies allow the sites to (at least on the surface) remain legal even in states where online gambling is prohibited. Users can wager on all their favorite casino games from the comfort of their own home, making something that has been classified as addictive as alcohol and drugs, even more accessible. Increasingly, cryptocurrency is being used in lieu of in-site currencies that often require a bank to process a transfer from an account, preventing pesky delays in users’ gambling experience. Gambling is now faster and easier than ever before.

Adults who have the ability to understand the risks of gambling are sadly not the only ones targeted by this gambling renaissance. In the 2010s, games like CSGO began to have in-game gambling in the form of loot boxes, containing randomized cosmetic items so the player has no idea what they will receive when opening them. To open these boxes, you must pay for a key, allowing developers to monetise adolescent bids to look cooler. In the case of CSGO, a whole economy has been built around its cosmetic skins, estimated at about $3 billion worth in wagers in 2016. While skins might be opened in-game, they can be traded and sold between players outside of the game, often by sketchy websites that are marketed to adolescents by streamers. Such influencers have even been sued by the FTC for failing to disclose their connections to the sites. However, their content itself, often consumed by kids, remains legal.

Gen Z, the generation that grew up with these games and viewing this content, is now maturing as the 2018 landmark case Murphy v. The Collegiate Athletic Association has overturned the federal ban on sports betting. Since the case was decided, 40 states now allow some kind of sports betting, and the total spent has gone from $5 billion to $150 billion. Gambling poses a particular threat to young men. 39% of bettors are under the age of 35, with 69% of those being men. Furthermore, about half of American men have online betting accounts. This makes betting not just easy, but it also allows users to bet on almost infinite possibilities. Young men are being trapped in cycles of addiction that lead to anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, which prevent them from performing at school or at work. 

So what does this have to do with Drake? Well, directly it doesn’t. But increasingly, sites like the one Drake is partnered with (which is worth about $100 million by the way) are partnering with other celebrities (washed up and otherwise) to market gambling on TV and online. Ads like this create a demand for the industry that was not there before. These sites lack the guardrails and regulations of even a casino that help limit and address addiction. Americans seem to view gambling as a personal failing, not a legitimate addiction, best evidenced by the fact that while there are institutes to study alcohol and drug abuse, none exist for gambling. If we are to prevent a generation of not just young men, but their loved ones, from experiencing the negative effects of gambling, states must provide addiction resources and crack down on the free for all that is American online gambling.