New York Lottery Ad Campaign Urges Parents Not To Gift Scratch-Off Tickets To Kids

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's the time of year when holiday ads urge you to buy early, and often.

This year, the people behind one product are running ads asking parents to think twice before buying.

As CBS2's Tony Aiello reported, lottery retailers have scratch off games that practically beg to be bought as stocking stuffers.

The lottery makes it easy to give tickets as a gift with envelopes available at most retailers.

Nelson Hernandez gives them to his family.

"Mom, sons, wife, myself!" he said.

Mary Ellen Gibbs likes them too.

"The Christmas scratch-offs, it's a lot of fun, people love to do that," she said.

The seasonal scratch offs even end up in the hands of people too young to legally buy them. Shannon Gilhooly got her first one from her aunt.

"I was young, I was like 11," she said, "It was like a dollar."

It's an issue for the New York Lottery. Research has shown that gambling early in life can lead to problem gambling later.

So the lottery is running a campaign comparing the tickets to other inappropriate gifts for kids.

"We don't want to be part of a problem as people grow up, and misunderstand what the actual gaming activity is, and develop into concerns in later life," Robert Williams, New York State Gaming Commission, said.

Some New Yorkers were shocked to hear that lottery tickets were being given to kids.

"I've never given teenagers liquor, cigarettes, or lottery tickets," Dan Myers said.

"No, I wouldn't give to a kid. No, it's inappropriate, I think, it's encouraging gambling," Gibbs said.

If someone under 18 does acquire a winning ticket, there's no rule against them claiming the prize.