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Weigh impact of legalizing online gambling

May 4, 2017 |


Two comments on your “Rolling the Dice and Game Sense” article (March 30):

The explosion of gambling from three states casinos may be the tip of the iceberg. Proponents now want to legalize online gambling, possibly with minimal debate. We ask the Reminder to publicize the con as well as the pro side of the issue before the legislature votes on  S182 this session.

Senate bill S182 would put lottery games on every computer and smart phone ‘round the clock and set the online precedent. Meanwhile, won’t be just lottery for long. The Special Commission On Online Gaming & Daily Fantasy Sports is researching ways to expand, including allowing casinos a piece of the online action. Gaming Chairman Crosby is even considering letting casinos run the operations according to CommonWealth magazine (March 27). If an online lottery has set the precedent, further expansion could be difficult, if not impossible, to stop.

Anyone opposed to legalizing online gambling should contact their legislators and ask them to oppose S182 and any House version. Governor Baker too, for his veto could be crucial.

We hope the GameSense program works. But the fact is the technology of gambling is fine tuned to keep us gambling using every psychological tactic in the book. Proponents talk of consumer protections as though they care more about protections than making money. We suggest the goal of  online gambling is to get younger people to gamble often and as early as legally allowed.

Substantiality is a problem. In their April 2016 Blinken Report the Rockefeller Institute of Government concluded “...gains (from gambling) are short-lived and create longer-term fiscal challenges for the states as revenue growth slows or declines.” Also, “gambling is not just any other kind of entertainment. It creates costs that are paid by all taxpayers and not just by gamblers.”

What are the effects on others in the Commonwealth as the government encourages people to spend more of their disposable income (and more) on gambling?

What are the political and social hazards of funding government services thru what some would consider exploitation?

A certain percentage will become compulsive gamblers. What are the effects on individuals? On families? On employers for lost employee time and temptation to embezzle? Revenues are drawn disproportionally from low income folks.

We suggest the issue of legalizing online gambling deserves serious consideration.


David & Eileen Pratt
Springfield

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