"Al gioco si conosce il galantuomo”. Per una critica della regolazione attuale in tema di gioco d’azzardo

The almost total prohibition of gambling activities has been reversed in recent decades to a regime of free access to the gambling market. This paper focuses first on the impact of such a drastic regulatory change on the opportunities for organised crime to enter and control the market. Secondly, the essay focuses on the taxation of gambling in order to show that the main interest pursued with liberalisation is taxation rather than the protection of public health. Finally, the paper concludes with a more general reflection on the interactions between gambling legislation and constitutional interests, the former being radically incompatible with the principles affirmed by several articles of the Italian Constitution, such as the article 4 or article 41: a reduction in gambling activities is therefore not only opportune to reduce addiction and the criminal presence in the market, but even constitutionally necessary.