Legal gambling opens up new revenue streams for cities and states, and gives the government a chance to regulate the industry safely. Illegal gambling is a dangerous activity, with debts being used as justification for violence and leverage to coerce individuals to participate in other illegal activity. Legal Prostitution Could Help Us Fight Against Human-Trafficking. Another important reason why prostitution should be legalized is because it could be a potential solution to fight human trafficking.
Did you know that 40% of all problem gamblers started gambling before they were seventeen? Or that problem gambling causes the most suicides out of all the recognized addictions? Even with these facts, the most startling truth is that not one federal dollar, out of the billions collected in gambling taxes, has been spent to treat or help problem gamblers. Gambling is the activity or practice of playing at a game of chance for money or other stakes. Activities that are considered gambling are sports and race bets, lotteries, games like blackjack and poker, and casino games like slots and roulette. Bingo and raffles are technically gambling, but there are no major concerns about them, so they are not included here. Gambling has been legalized by many states, but just because it is does not make it right. Even though gambling is legal, it should not be because of its harmful economic, governmental, and social effects.
There are many detrimental economic effects of gambling, but there are two major ones: it siphons money from other industries, and states attempt to use lotteries to boost income. Gambling takes money from consumers that would otherwise be spent in an important industry or charity. Instead, it is essentially thrown away in hopes of getting rich quick. The removal of money from other industries often causes businesses to go bankrupt, therefore creating more unemployed people. You could argue that casinos create jobs, but those jobs do not make enough money to really support a family. The other economic problem that gambling creates is the use of lotteries. States typically use lotteries to make more money, but it is nowhere near as effective as other methods that are in use. The state makes 40% of the money that is put into lotteries, while they make 99% of the money that goes into taxes. Also, sources say that since the poor buy so many more lottery tickets than everyone else, the lotteries have become a tax on the poor and economically disadvantaged. The economic effects may be bad, but the governmental and social effects are far more hurtful.
There are a few different damaging effects that gambling has on the government, but they fall into two categories: the government’s role and illegal activity. The government’s role in gambling is not what it should be. Drugs and gambling are both known to be self-destructive, yet drugs are banned and gambling is legalized? To the people that are compulsive gamblers, gambling is a drug to them, so it should be illegal like all other drugs. The other poor role the government has in gambling is that the government gets a cut of the profits from it in the form of taxes. As it was mentioned earlier, the poor and lower-middle class gamble more, so it is essentially a tax on the poor. Illegal activity is another damaging governmental effect of gambling. Since betting on sports and races are legal, it has become far easier for organized crime to make money off of fixed sporting events and racing. From a sports standpoint, it makes “point-shaving” scandals a potentially larger issue, and can take away from the integrity of the game. Additionally, in areas where gambling is legalized, illegal gambling increases. Since people think it is okay to gamble, they now go to an illegal gambling location so that their winnings, if any, are not taxed by the government. The destructive governmental and economical effects of gambling are horrible, but the social effects are the worst of all.
The harmful social effects of gambling are it forces the poor to stay poor, compulsive gamblers bring massive problems, and gambling can ruin lives and families. Gambling at casinos and in lotteries have terrible odds of winning, but the poor, who desperately need the money, try time and time again in hopes of getting lucky to pull out of their economic problems. However, they rarely win, and the amount of money that they pour in forces them stay poor. Even if you are not poor and you start to gamble constantly, you will become poor very quickly. Another harmful social effect of gambling is the presence of compulsive gamblers. Compulsive, or problem, gamblers are people who are addicted to gambling. Gambling is a drug to them, and they cannot stop gambling, no matter the consequences. A study showed that most compulsive gamblers started during their teen years, and that they are in close to $80,000 in debt. Because of the staggering amount of debt they are in, they are a huge burden to their families. The last harmful social effect of gambling is it destroys families. The amount of debt that a compulsive gambler gets into puts way too much strain on the rest of the family to help him or her out of debt. If you are married to a compulsive gambler, it is like being married to a hard-core drug addict, they are forced to throw away money to satisfy their addiction. Unfortunately, sometimes the debt is too much, and the spouse will divorce, shattering the family. The social effects of gambling are the worst, but all the effects of gambling are awful.
Unfortunately for us, gambling is legal in almost every state, allowing these hurtful effects to exist. Even though gambling is legal, it should not be because of its harmful economic, governmental, and social effects. If you are considering gambling sometime, think about what you are supporting, and how it could ruin your life.
States With Legal Internet Gambling
Why Should Sports Gambling Be Legal
Why Should Gambling Stay Illegal
None
Is Online Gambling Legal
My 18th birthday, in spite of the lack of festivities, was a significant occasion. At 18, I could vote, buy lottery tickets, pornography, and cigarettes, sign my own name on legally binding contracts, get my senior drivers license, and be drafted into the army. Yet, the list of things I could not legally do was still a formidable one. And, high on that list, were alcohol consumption and gambling.
While most people look forward to their 21st birthday as the day they will finally be able to drink (legally), the gambling age has received little scrutiny. A search on LexisNexis of the “major papers” for “gambling” and “21” in the past year returned no results that related to the age limit. It seems that while gambling is under scrutiny as a whole, the terms under which it occurs are not.
It is ironic and hypocritical that the gambling age in most gambling establishments in the U.S. remains at 21, and of the states with a legal gambling age of 18 at least four are in the process of raising the limit to 21.
Undoubtedly, turning 18 is a significant milestone in American life. At that age, a U.S. citizen often is asked to gamble things far more serious than their money: their lives.
As soon as U.S. citizens turn 18, they are eligible to be drafted into the army; high schools in America are required by law to submit information on all 18- year-old males to the federal government in case of a draft. Many Americans choose to join the army of their own free will at this age—choosing to risk their lives for the sake of their country. But at 18, American still may not go to a casino in most parts of our country. At 18 years of age, an Americans can gamble their lives, but not their money.
Holding the gambling age at 21 is inconsistent, for at 18, a person can buy a lottery ticket in most states. The lottery is a very popular form of gambling. By buying a ticket for a dollar (or more), a person can get lucky and win millions of dollars. This is no different in principle or substance from walking into a casino, putting down a dollar and picking a number in roulette. But there is a difference legally: while 18 year-olds can buy a lottery ticket, they cannot play roulette.
This is an inconsistency that needs to be rectified. If 18-year-olds can legally buy lottery tickets, there is no reason they should not be able to enter a casino to play a poker game or drop a quarter in a slot machine.
Some may argue that the casino environment is unsuitable for a teenager. Often, alcohol abounds, and at 18, the person cannot legally drink. Yet, gambling and alcohol do not necessarily need to be related. One could attend a casino without drinking, or could be carded for drinks at the bar or by waitresses (just as they are already carded to gamble in the first place).
Furthermore, the rest of the world does not seem to be following the trend set by the U.S. Many countries abroad have recently lowered the legal gambling age, including France, the Bahamas, and 12 of the German Länder.
The U.S. should place a priority on being consistent—both within internally and with the world at large. The gambling age should be set nationally at 18. At 21, it is undermined by one’s ability to buy lottery tickets (in all states but Iowa), play charity bingo (in all states but Alaska) and engage in parimutuel betting (in all states but Iowa and Texas). It is also undermined by one’s ability to gamble one’s life by serving in the military, and to gamble the future of the country by voting for the president and other elected officials. People gamble in different ways every day, and at 18, a person should be considered old enough to gamble at a casino legally.
Reva P. Minkoff ’08, a Crimson editorial editor, is a government concentrator in Pforzheimer House.