Rejected petition End the Cycle – Ban Gambling Advertising Now

Ban all gambling advertising and sponsorship, including at racecourses and in sports. Treat gambling with the same regulatory rigour as tobacco, acknowledging that its neurological impact mimics Class A drugs like cocaine. Protect the public by ending the normalisation of betting in UK life.

More details

Research in Translational Psychiatry (2017) confirms gambling triggers the same neural pathways as cocaine. We call on the UK Government to ban all gambling ads and racecourse sponsorships. Public Health England notes a "dose-response" effect: higher exposure increases participation and harm. The DSM-5 reclassified gambling as an "Addictive Disorder" due to this biological overlap. We must stop the predatory normalisation of a "Class A" equivalent.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Ban all gambling ads from social media, TV and all other platforms
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/740167

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 16 February 2026
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