Glasgow toy store Hamley's is being urged to remove a toy from the shelves which an MP believes could train children to gamble.
The toy, the Red 5 Slot Machine, urges buyers to "bring a touch of Nevada into your living room with this fully functioning slot machine".
The "Lucky Slot" one-armed bandit uses real coins and boasts light and sound effects and arcade-style action and is on sale in the toy company's Glasgow and other stores as well as online.
However critics fear it normalises an activity which causes debt and misery to thousands of adults. The box the toy slot machine comes in says it has a minimum age of 14, but Mr Cowan said there was no guarantee that it would not be bought by or used by younger children.
Ronnie Cowan, SNP MP for Inverclyde has been a key voice in the campaign to persuade the UK Government to regulate high-stakes coin-operated gambling machines known as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT).
He has written to Gudjon Reynisson Chief Executive of Hamley's appealing to the company to withdraw the product. Mr Cowan said he was deeply disapopinted that they were on sale at all: "Hamleys in Glasgow are selling 'Lucky Slot' machines which allow players to "play with real coins" something which completely normalises the notion of gambling for those who are still too young to legally do so."
In his letter, he claims selling the machines and introducing children to gambling as a 'fun' activity could increase the risks of developing gambling related harm now or in later life and also sends the wrong message.
He added: "As vice-chair of the All-party parliamentary group on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals I am aware, from evidence and testimonies received, how these machines create gambling related harm and can leave lives in ruin. This is why I have been campaigning to have the maximum unit stake reduced.
"I would strongly urge Hamleys to reconsider stocking these machines in your stores."
Mr Cowan's concerns were echoed by the charity GambleAware
A spokeswoman said many young people already have too much exposure to gambling. She added: “Similarities to real life adult gambling within toys and games are of serious concern as they run the risk of normalising gambling activity for children.
"Each week 370,000 children gamble with their own money and the fact that 25,000 children aged 11 to 16 years old are problem gamblers ought to serve as a loud wake-up call to everyone concerned.
"Many children report to having their first gambling experience at the age of 12, which shows a clear need for caution. We all have a responsibility to raise awareness of the risks of gambling and promote the help that’s available at BeGambleAware.org.”
Last month GambleAware awarded £750,000 to the Scottish charity, Fast Forward, to fund a three year project to tackle youth problem gambling across the country.
The Aberdeen-based scheme will include the Scottish Gambling Education
Hub which will take a gambling education toolkit into schools and colleges to help young people make informed choices. At the launch, Alastair MacKinnon, Chief Executive of Fast Forward said: "We are only just beginning to
understand the full extent of gambling-related harms and the impact on gamblers and
those around them".
If the hub is a success, the hope is that the approach will be replicated across England and Wales.
Mr Cowan has not yet had a reply to his letter. The Herald attempted to ask Hamley's for comment through various channels, but the company did not respond.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here