Gambling
I genuinely think the reason why online gambling isn't as controversial as it could be is because it just doesn't trigger the same disgust response that matters of food and sex do. When I was a kid I didn't understand why gambling was labeled as a vice like drinking or doing drugs because to me it was just a thing that grown-ups did when they went to Mohegan Sun (casino you'd know if you grew up in the Tri-State Area) or Vegas if they were lucky. Now that I'm older and you can gamble away your fortune from your fingertips I'm like "ooooh okay I get it now."
As an adult I also realized that arcades with tokens are a loophole to legally get kids addicted to the dopamine rush of gambling. I have a core memory of me finally winning the 1000 tickets in the Big Bass Wheel and I've been chasing that high ever since.
The reason why gambling addiction is recognized as a serious issue while social media addiction isn't (there aren't hotlines for pathological scrolling) is because in addition to being spiritually bad for you gambling also has direct financial consequences.
80% of ads on TV nowadays are for medications and the other 20% are for sports betting apps. Sometimes you get ads for local injury attorneys but that's about it.
"I genuinely think the reason why online gambling isn't as controversial as it could be is because it just doesn't trigger the same disgust response that matters of food and sex do."
That's a major factor for sure, but I think there's at least one other one. Gambling was normalized long before *normalized* was a thing. So gambling *feels* like it took off organically, without needing to be promoted by governments or schools or HR initiatives. Yes, it's advertised heavily, but the advertisements don't have any *moral* aspect to them. They don't say "this is good (morally)", they say "this is a good time!" So the ads don't come off as lectures or even argumentative, so they're less provocative to those who disagree with them.
This is in sharp contrast to matters of food and sex. After all, is there a *gambling* positivity movement, which promotes the idea of "your wallet is healthy at any size"?
Still, maybe we're too lax with gambling ads. Most sports fans I know dislike seeing them on TV broadcasts of sporting events. I dislike them a little bit since it sometimes feel like sports betting becomes bigger than the sport itself.
Do you see gambling as something that stands as a cultural fixture, even with the addiction and destruction involved? I have a grandparent that lives near a big horseracing track. He has been horsebetting his whole life as a hobby, but hasn't blown any major assets as far as I know. Some do - and I think horseracing is wrong for other reasons - but thousands of people visit the town during racing season, have a great time, and go home. People get something out of the experience even if they're losing money. I feel similarly about Las Vegas