If the issue is overconsumption then there are better ways to deal with that, the same way we deal with other addictions. But the core idea of lotteries is not

If the issue is overconsumption then there are better ways to deal with that, the same way we deal with other addictions. But the core idea of lotteries is not broken in the same way that poker isn't. > Not my argument. Lotteries are an irrational “opiate of the masses” to choose compared to other opiates of the masses. Lotteries, in practice — mostly because you can buy multiple lottery tickets per drawing, and some people really go in on that — are more negative-sum (i.e. more extractive on the part of their operators) than almost any other way to trade money for dopamine. How do the people you are trying to help respond to these arguments? Are they readily convinced to go for these superior sources of dopamine? Human beings aren't utility maximising functions so often these issues are more complex than simple comparisons of utility estimates.