Another step forward for Slot Mob, the campaign against gambling supported by several associations and the media, thanks also to young people: it  took place in Catania, (Italy), where the City took a stand against slot machines, approving an amendment in the resolution of the municipal domestic and waste tax, which reduces by 50% the tax on waste to those business people that remove them from their shops. This is a reduction for two years in total, which includes a commitment not to install any other gambling machine for 10 years. The event to promote public establishments which do not have slot machines and video poker took place in Catania on 22^nd February. On that occasion “Youth for Unity” in their publication “Grafoteens”,  an information sheet for young people in Sicily, Calabria and Malta – posed themselves the question about “an ethic that is less about the world of gambling in general and which affects more and more the poor areas of the city”, including children, in spite of the prohibitions, and conversely on “an ethic that emerges in a stronger way regarding the use of goods confiscated from the Mafia, and which, in Calabria, the ‘Ndrangheta (a Mafia organization) continues to attack”. From this the meaning of the article summary is clear, “What side is the state on?” This constitutes a specific request to the administrative institutions to take a firm stand to support ethics which despite everything survive. And the answer came in June, with the resolution of the Municipality. The “Let’s get in the game” committee which promoted Slot Mob, and the “Teens for Unity”, who were committed to pursuing its instances were understandably satisfied. It’s a sign of detachment from the very strong culture of patronage and lobby of the managers of slot machines, wrote Giancarlo Morello in the editorial of the June issue of Grafoteens . We also appreciate the commitment and promise-keeping that some councillors demonstrated in the days of the creation of the Slot Mob, and who were then committed to the idea of rewarding those who would take away these machines. It all constituted a first signal towards achieving the “Let’s get in the Game Committee” and Grafoteens’  goal of a “City without slots”. The city of Catania is also working on a municipal regulation to counter the spread of pathological gambling. Like Catania, there are many municipalities where the fight against gambling, by mobilizing citizens, has taken many forms through the Slot Mob campaign. Supporters of the initiative include the Italian New City magazine and the Economy of Communion. To learn more or to arrange a Slot Mob in your city go to: http://www.nexteconomia.org/le-attivita/slot-mob http://www.edc-online.org/it/home-it/slotmob.html http://vimeo.com/98447447