Spain to Classify Problem Gambling as Mental Disorder

Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), the gambling regulator of Spain, has decided to consider problem gambling as a mental disorder.

The new measure that finds a place in the gambling regulator’s Responsible Gaming Programme, has been approved by the members of the Responsible Gaming Advisory Council (CAJR). The new measure will come into effect in the coming months.

The DGOJ says that once the number of people facing compulsive gambling issues is identified, it will be easier to tailor policies to address the growing menace of gambling addiction and also assess the social impact of gambling addiction.

“Although the evaluation of the operation and results of the RGIAJ is highly satisfactory it is necessary to reflect on those aspects that require adaptations and improvements,” DGOJ said.

The gambling watchdog has also said that they would create an alert system that would flag fake IDs when a gambler signs up with an operator.

“This complements the rest of the work that the DGOJ is doing to reinforce the guarantees of the identity verification process prior to the activation of user registration,” DGOJ said.