5 ms·

Not only does it blow my mind that betting is legal, states run their own goddamn lotteries and made more than $70 billion of revenue doing that in 2014. [0]

by shafyy 8y ago

Not only does it blow my mind that betting is legal, states run their own goddamn lotteries and made more than $70 billion of revenue doing that in 2014. [0] I'm pretty sure lotteries have destroyed more lives than all of the drugs combined. 0: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/lotteries-americas-70-billion-shame/392870/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/lotteri...

carlosdp 8y ago
That's quite a claim, what makes you think state lotteries ruin any lives at all? Per capita lottery spend was at just $225 a year in 2016 [0], so no one is going broke playing the lottery, and the revenues typically go to state programs around education. [0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/23/per-capita-lottery-spending-has-doubled-since https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/23/per-capit...
- MRD85 8y ago
  Per capita may be $225 but gambling isn't distributed evenly through the population. I live in a country with very relaxed laws and I've seen the social problems that unrestricted gambling leads to.
  - subjectHarold 8y ago
    And those problems exist whether you ban gambling or not. Do you think that no-one is addicted to heroin because it is illegal? It is kind of farcical. If you regulate gambling properly, you actually have tools to control harm. If you don't, then you are increasing harm.
- shafyy 8y ago
  That's like saying because per capita beer consumption is 75 liters per year there are no alcohol-related problems.
ravenstine 8y ago
What makes you think people wouldn't otherwise blow their money on something else if they couldn't gamble? The next high for them could be any other sort of get-rich-quick scheme, or state sanctioned addictions like alcohol and cigarettes. Why do you think it's up to the state to tell people they can't waste their money or ruin their own lives?
buttcoinslol 8y ago
Before state lotteries, there were numbers games run by various organized crime groups and independent operators. And before that, there were other forms of gambling. The only difference is where the money goes. Drugs and alcohol have destroyed far more lives, I can say that with absolute certainty. Drugs are not cheap, plus the drugs affect your judgement/health/family to a far greater degree than just gambling. Just compare the amount of treatment programs for both, etc. It's not even close.
- shafyy 8y ago
  What I'm saying is that gambling should not be legal. I don't know if it's worse than drugs and alcohol (my initial claim is definitely a hyperbole), but it's definitely not good. Just step a foot inside a casino and look at what kind of people spend their days there. I'm sure there are ways to handle this issue without it leading to the uprising of organized crime.
  - subjectHarold 8y ago
    Rates of gambling addiction are tiny compared to other kinds of addiction (0.5-1%). More to the point though, the absolute worse way to help people who are sick is to criminalise their sickness. By legalising gambling you can generate money to invest in harm prevention. The way the US approached the issue has led to terrible outcomes for gambling addicts, funding for organised crime, and has led to the creation of a powerful lobbying groups (in Las Vegas Sands/Adelson) that obstructs progress. It is kind of bizarre to see these comments in the 21st century. For the rest of the world, these issues have been solved.
    - shafyy 8y ago
      I'm not saying we should criminalize gambling. There's a whole spectrum of policies between fully legal and completely illegal. However, I don't agree with the notion that spending revenue from immoral sources on "good" causes warrants the immoral source. Edit: Typos
      - 8y ago
newman8r 8y ago
I'm not sure about that - there were ~70,000 deaths from overdoses in the US alone in 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p1221-complexity-drug-overdose.html https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p1221-complexity-dru...

by shafyy 8y ago

carlosdp 8y ago

That's quite a claim, what makes you think state lotteries ruin any lives at all? Per capita lottery spend was at just $225 a year in 2016 [0], so no one is going broke playing the lottery, and the revenues typically go to state programs around education. [0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/23/per-capita-lottery-spending-has-doubled-since https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/23/per-capit...

MRD85 8y ago
Per capita may be $225 but gambling isn't distributed evenly through the population. I live in a country with very relaxed laws and I've seen the social problems that unrestricted gambling leads to.
- subjectHarold 8y ago
  And those problems exist whether you ban gambling or not. Do you think that no-one is addicted to heroin because it is illegal? It is kind of farcical. If you regulate gambling properly, you actually have tools to control harm. If you don't, then you are increasing harm.
shafyy 8y ago
That's like saying because per capita beer consumption is 75 liters per year there are no alcohol-related problems.

ravenstine 8y ago

What makes you think people wouldn't otherwise blow their money on something else if they couldn't gamble? The next high for them could be any other sort of get-rich-quick scheme, or state sanctioned addictions like alcohol and cigarettes. Why do you think it's up to the state to tell people they can't waste their money or ruin their own lives?

buttcoinslol 8y ago

Before state lotteries, there were numbers games run by various organized crime groups and independent operators. And before that, there were other forms of gambling. The only difference is where the money goes. Drugs and alcohol have destroyed far more lives, I can say that with absolute certainty. Drugs are not cheap, plus the drugs affect your judgement/health/family to a far greater degree than just gambling. Just compare the amount of treatment programs for both, etc. It's not even close.

shafyy 8y ago
What I'm saying is that gambling should not be legal. I don't know if it's worse than drugs and alcohol (my initial claim is definitely a hyperbole), but it's definitely not good. Just step a foot inside a casino and look at what kind of people spend their days there. I'm sure there are ways to handle this issue without it leading to the uprising of organized crime.
- subjectHarold 8y ago
  Rates of gambling addiction are tiny compared to other kinds of addiction (0.5-1%). More to the point though, the absolute worse way to help people who are sick is to criminalise their sickness. By legalising gambling you can generate money to invest in harm prevention. The way the US approached the issue has led to terrible outcomes for gambling addicts, funding for organised crime, and has led to the creation of a powerful lobbying groups (in Las Vegas Sands/Adelson) that obstructs progress. It is kind of bizarre to see these comments in the 21st century. For the rest of the world, these issues have been solved.
  - shafyy 8y ago
    I'm not saying we should criminalize gambling. There's a whole spectrum of policies between fully legal and completely illegal. However, I don't agree with the notion that spending revenue from immoral sources on "good" causes warrants the immoral source. Edit: Typos
    - 8y ago

newman8r 8y ago

I'm not sure about that - there were ~70,000 deaths from overdoses in the US alone in 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p1221-complexity-drug-overdose.html https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p1221-complexity-dru...