Gambling in Texas; Would Expansion Help or Hurt?
Is it legal?
The legality of different types of gambling is determined by each state and is often somewhat confusing. Certain forms of online “casino” gambling may be perfectly legal while actual in casino gambling is not. Such is the case in Texas. While no one may operate an online casino in the State of Texas, “Operating an online gambling website in the state of Texas is illegal”, they may gamble online, “but it is safe for Texans to gamble at offshore gambling websites” (GAMBLEonline2018). But of course, there are no brick and mortar casinos in the state that are legal to gamble in.
The lottery however, is legal for anyone over the age of 18 to play.
No opinion can really be given on legality since it is a pretty black and white issue.
Is it ethical?
Is it ethical for a state to have an interest in any betting institutions that exist in their midst? While opinions may vary on the ethical aspects, states can greatly benefit…and state legislators are quick to point out the dollars to be gained. Such is the case in Florida “With the state's 2004 fiscal year budget $2 billion in the red, the idea of all those dollars lost at sea does not sit well with state officials. The simple fact is that Floridians are gambling–not only on boats off shore but in nearby states as well. And the way it works now, Florida gets no financial benefit from it” (Perlman, 2003). Sometimes the drive for that money may be for a specific need. This is currently happening in Texas with Gubernatorial candidate Andrew White. He is proposing that casinos be allowed in the state and that all of the proceeds be put towards public schools and scholarships for High School Seniors to use towards college, “That would generate an estimated $3 billion of revenue, he said” (Wang, 2018). He cites the same issue as in Florida. Residents are going outside of the state to gamble and not keeping it at home. He also cites the drive to pay teachers what they are worth.
There are those who feel this would be a conflict to use monies earned via “questionable” means for such a righteous cause. They feel it would be ethically AND morally wrong (more on morals in the next section).
So where does that leave the revenue generated from the lottery? Currently in the State of Texas, lottery revenue is broken down as follows (Samuels, 2017);
• 63 percent is paid to lottery winners
• 27.1 percent funds Texas education through the Foundation School Fund
• 5.4 percent goes toward retailer commissions
• 4 percent goes to the lottery for administrative costs
• The remainder, about 0.4 percent, funds the Veterans Assistance Program and other state programs
So, most would agree that the lottery is doing is fair share to contribute to the economy and would not complain about the ethical implications.
Is it moral?
This topic as well as the crime/addiction aspect are the most hotly debated aspects with regards to gambling and are, for the most part, intertwined. In the “Overview of the Economic and Social Impacts of Gambling in the United States”, Douglas M. Walker states “Disagreement over casinos arises from moral objections to gambling, concerns over potentially negative social impacts, as well as uncertainty as to the economic benefits from legalization” (2011). Most people look at “Sin City” as the example of the debauchery that gambling invites into an area surrounding gambling. When looked at as purely an outlet for entertainment purposes, there is not much ground to say yes. People spend large amounts of money every day to be entertained. Music, movies, even theme parks like Disney World are high revenue entertainments industries that are not necessarily hotly debated morality topics. But when the microscope is put closer on casinos, the seedy underbelly emerges. It is a never-ending debate in which both sides can be seen. Another aspect is the human instinct to cheat. Not everyone acts on it, but it is increased when certain situations present themselves.
The lottery, on the other hand, is not very often looked at as “gambling” per se. People do not lose hundreds or hundreds of thousands when buying a lottery ticket. There is not any crime especially attributed to the lottery.
Addiction and crime.
If one already has an addictive personality and/or the disease of addiction of any form, the addition of a 24/7 source in order to fulfill that need is often too great to resist. The National Center for Responsible Gaming reports;
“1.1 to 1.6 percent of the adult population in the United States—approximately 3 million to 4 million Americans—has a gambling disorder. That is more than the number of women living in the U.S. with a history of breast cancer. The center estimates that another 2 to 3 percent of adults, or an additional 5 million to 8 million Americans, meets some of the American Psychiatric Association’s criteria for addiction but have not yet progressed to the pathological, or disordered, stage.” (Rosengren, 2016)
Consider the following from “THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF GAMBLING” by Williams, Rehm and Stevens (2011);
• Casinos have greater addiction potential because they offer continuous forms of gambling (EGMs and casino table games), and thus are more reliably associated with increased rates of problem gambling and related indices when they are first introduced.
It is said that the “high” form a gambling win is similar to and drug or alcohol high. Some claim that, just like big name tobacco companies, that casinos try to prey on that addictive personality…that person looking for their next fix. That should be a crime in itself. Especially given all of the lives gambling addiction has shattered and even ended.
While not everyone becomes addicted and some just have innocent casual fun with it, there is no way to present an argument for something that causes so much destruction.
When looking at crimes attributed to casinos/gambling, the following is also cited from “THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF GAMBLING” by Williams, Rehm and Stevens (2011);
• Casinos have a higher potential for increasing crime than other forms of gambling because they contribute more to problem gambling (and therefore problem-gambling related crime), because they provide additional opportunities for crime (e.g., money laundering, passing counterfeit money), because of the clientele they attract, and because they serve alcohol. Even so, the actual impacts on crime tend to be mixed, and the impacts, when they occur, are usually not large.
Although there are places where casinos thrive, not to mention the surrounding areas, with lower incidences of crime than others, it is a hotly debated subject. There was a study done over the course of 20 years that found that “opening a casino led to local crime increases averaging eight percent” (Tapley, 2009). Eight percent is not really that much in comparison to the jobs and revenue the casinos bring to a state.
Gambling sees many crimes past the obvious. How many people are allowed to get into so much debt that the casinos then sue them? How many people drain every account they have and have to declare bankruptcy? How many people steal from loved ones or embezzle from their employers in order to feed their addiction?
As far as the lottery goes in this category, there is not necessarily addiction as much as habit associated. People do not lose hundreds or thousands in playing the lottery. The only crimes that might occur would possibly only come if one has a winning lottery ticket or from dealings after receiving the winnings. None of this is from the actual playing of the lottery itself.
Conclusion
I think this information is what really brought it home for me;
“It’s a pretty sleazy way to fund state government,” says Peter Franchot, the comptroller of Maryland. “We have set ourselves up in partnership with a predatory industry … The profits come mainly from a group of addicts that are recruited and nurtured by casinos until they’re out of money.”
Communities typically build casinos based on a mirage of false promises: that they will provide jobs, fund schools, and boost the local economy. But Earl Grinols, an economics professor at Baylor University, in Texas, and the author of Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits, has estimated that every dollar of benefit a casino brings to a community entails about $3 in social costs—whether it’s increased crime, or declining productivity, or more spending on services such as unemployment payments. “It’s a social negative,” Grinols told me. “Casino gambling is bad for the economy. It should not be allowed by anyone, anywhere, anytime.” (Rosengren, 2016)
Despite any of the benefits that gambling may bring a state, it is not worth the harm it can bring to its citizens. Others argue that “if it’s legal, it must be safe” …. tell that to the millions who die from cancer from smoking. Sometimes we have to be saved from ourselves.