Researchers and clinicians raise concerns about online gambling risks for young Pennsylvanians
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From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! A Pennsylvania college student must wait until they are 21 to place a wager at a state-licensed sports book. But prediction-market platform Kalshi allows people to open accounts at 18 years old, offering a way for young people banned from sports betting to put money on the outcome of a game. For clinicians treating gambling problems, the difference in how those products are described can matter as much as the difference in age requirements. Dr. Cynthia Grant, a licensed clinical social worker and vice president of clinical at Birches Health, said she has worked with people who committed to stopping their sports betting or online gaming, then switched to prediction markets because they understood those products as something different. “We don’t treat platforms, we treat people,” Grant said. Her concern comes as Pennsylvania expands gambling-related support services and rese