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Sacramento, CA – Today, the NO on Prop 27 campaign launched a new ad featuring Dr. Anna Lembke, MD urging voters to reject Prop 27. Dr. Lembke is a national leader in addiction medicine and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic.

“Digital drugs like online gambling are engineered to be addictive, and unfortunately, they’re working exactly as intended,” said Dr. Anna Lembke, MD. “I regularly see patients with severe addictions to digital drugs. Prop 27 would drastically increase the risks of gambling addiction in California.”

The ad’s script is below:

“As a doctor specializing in addiction medicine, I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about Prop 27. The research is clear: turning virtually every cell phone into a gambling device would drastically increase gambling addiction, while exposing millions of kids to online gambling. In fact, states that have legalized online sports betting have reported a 200% increase in calls to problem gambling hotlines. The last thing California needs is another addiction crisis. Please, get the facts, and vote NO on 27.”

Earlier this week, Dr. Lembke warned voters about the addictive nature of online gambling in an op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News titled, “Californians don’t need another addiction crisis. Reject Prop. 27.”

Prop 27 would legalize a massive expansion of online and mobile sports gambling in California – turning virtually every cell phone, laptop and tablet into a gambling device. Recent polling shows Prop 27 failing by a 26-point-margin, with 53% of voters indicating they would oppose the measure while only 27% of voters saying they would support it.

Background:

Prop 27, sponsored and entirely funded by out-of-state gambling corporations like DraftKings, FanDuel and Bet MGM, would legalize the largest expansion of online and mobile sports gambling in the history of the country – turning virtually every cell phone, laptop and tablet into a gambling device. Prop 27 would multiply the risks of addiction and problem gambling among California’s most vulnerable, jeopardize Indian self-reliance and drain billions of dollars from our state. Under Prop 27, 90% of profits go to the out-of-state corporations, leaving only pennies for homelessness programs and even less for California’s tribes.

That’s why Prop 27 is opposed by a broad coalition of 50+ California Indian tribes, civil rights, public safety, labor, business, faith leaders, local governments, advocates for the homeless, mental health advocates and every major newspaper editorial board.