Gambling in Macedonia is getting new limits - literally. Parliament has passed the new Law on Games of Chance, under which casinos and betting shops must sit at least 500 metres from schools, and celebrities will no longer be allowed to advertise gambling.

The law was passed on 29 June with 60 votes "for" and 20 "against". Beyond the distance from educational institutions, electronic video-lottery terminals will not be permitted in betting shops within a 500-metre radius of schools. Also banned are messages that present gambling as a path to financial success, a better life, or a solution to personal and social problems. Part of the revenue will go to Macedonian cinema.

Behind the dry provisions sits a real problem everyone can see - betting shops on every corner, ads with famous faces selling gambling as entertainment and a fast track to money, and more and more young people caught in that trap. Banning celebrities from advertising gambling is an admission that they, with their influence, are exactly the ones who normalised something that destroys families.

Still, a law on paper is easy; enforcement on the ground is hard. How many betting shops are within 500 metres of a school today, and who's going to shut them down? Will the ad ban also apply online, where young people actually do their watching? The new rules are a good start - but the gambling industry learned long ago how to find a loophole in any law. The real test is whether the state will have the will to enforce its own rules.