Should Gambling Be Legal?

“Current estimates suggest that three percent of the adult population will experience a serious problem with gambling that will result in significant debt, family disruption, job losses, criminal activity or suicide. Pathological gambling affects the gamblers, their families, their employers and the community. As the gamblers go through the phases of their addiction, they spend less

There are many different forms of gambling. Whether one is betting on a lottery ticket, a horse race, a sports game, or slot machines, to name a few, they are spending money with unfavourable odds of winning that money back. Many people cannot control when they walk away from gambling, as they will continue to bet in an attempt to win back the lost money. The issue is - for the most part - that the losses continue to increase. In Victoria, in the fiscal year of 2000-01, gamblers lost a total of $14.38 billion, including $2.36 billion on the leading cause of losses, poker machines (11). This can result in problem gambling. Based on different surveys in Canada, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 20 Canadians either have a gambling problem, or are at serious risk of obtaining one. 1 in 20 Canadians adds up to 760,800 problem gamblers (12). In the US, an estimated 3 million people are problem gamblers, and another 15 million are at risk of developing gambling problems (13). Problem gambling would not be as severe of an issue if it only harmed the gambler themselves, as it is their choice to gamble and displays a only a lack of self control. The issue is that people are indirectly affected by problem gambling. It can result in problems with personal relationships, neglect of ones family, bankruptcy, and stress related disorders such as depression, or insomnia (14). Problem gambling also has a positive correlation with crime. This means that the more problem gamblers there are, the more crimes are being committed. Statistics from a published survey show that only 3.3% of responsible, low frequency gamblers have been convicted of committing a crime, while a staggering 28.3% of problem gamblers have been convicted at least once (15). These numbers show that problem gamblers do not only harm themselves, but the consequences have a continuous ripple effect,

Over the past 100 years people have gambled on horse races, boxing matches, and card games. It has been in human nature to put a bet on a competative game to try and win money. Gambling today has become even more prominate in our society. All over the internet you can find cites to wager on a game or play poker. The problem people gambling on the internet is the revenue goes to companies who do not live in this country. Creating a place to gamble in all cities would create more revenue for our country. Furthermore, it would create more jobs and then populate smaller cities. To help out this economy we need to legalize gambling in the United States.

Recently, a new, debatable topic has hit Americans in a swift manner. Should gambling be legalized in their respective states? As you may already know, gambling is the act of risking something of value for a potential chance of profit. “Not that long ago, Americans held gambling in the same esteem as heroin dealing” (Popkin & Hetter 17). Today, however, people see gambling not as bad as it used to be. In fact, according to a Harrah’s survey, thirty two percent of all households in the United States gambled at a casino in 1996 (Calvert 2). However large this number may seem, there are still a tremendous amount that do not gamble and feel that it should not be legalized in any way, shape or form. Proponents believe that gambling benefits the

Gambling is seen as a psychological problem affecting millions of Americans across the country. It is estimated that 20 million Americans have or could develop gambling problems, and about half of these are young adults. Gambling is sometimes connected to spouse and child abuse, bankruptcy, mental breakdowns, substance abuse, theft, divorce, and suicide. It is estimated that people are twice as likely to be a problem or pathological gambler if a casino is within 50 miles of their home. Citizens will also experience alcohol-related problems, as the casinos will be permitted to sell or provide complimentary alcoholic beverages during all hours that they operate (Amend. 5, Sect. 10E).

Gambling is to play games of chance for money. When done legally it is considered “gaming”. Though when people become addicted it is different, it

“Pathological gambling is excessive risk taking exaggerated to an especially destructive extreme.” This is the way Dr. Ted and Brad Klontz open their chapter on the destructive behavior that is gambling (Klontz, B., & Klontz, T, 2009). As the authors describe gambling is a habit that becomes like a drug as people, mostly men, continue to gamble to make themselves feel better about themselves or to escape their present reality. The biggest danger of this disorder is that it is one that people try to hide from others the most, and are very hesitant to admit that their gambling is an addiction.

Some jobs would also be created if online gambling was legalized. Many of the existing online gambling sites would move their operations to the United States, while other sites would be newly created in here. The jobs created would range from computer programmers to customer service jobs (Rousu). Our economy is always looking for new jobs to decrease the unemployment rate. This is a great way to lower unemployment and increase the economy at the same time.

Gambling has many different types of activities. It is not always obvious when someone is addicted to gambling. Many factors can contribute to a gambling addiction, including desperation for money, the thrills and highs which brings the experience of desire. Whether you bet on card, sports, roulette, poker, or slots gambling can strain relationships, interfere with work and lead to financial issues. You might even do things that you may never thought you would do, like stealing money from family members or even strangers. Studies place the total number of compulsive gamblers at about 4.4 million, about equal to the nation’s ranks of hard-core drug addicts (Gold & Ferrell

Gambling is one of the fastest growing industries which are a major entertainment and tourism industry in the United States. It is playing a game of chance and probability for stakes and occurs in many forms such as casinos, lotteries, stock market, bingo parlors and slot machines. It not only takes place on casinos, but nowadays, you can do gambling through the internet. Gambling also includes betting on a horse or car race or can be sports betting. It is also the cause of extensive harm for problematic gamblers alongside with their families, loved ones and especially the community they live in.

Gambling disorder involves the urge to gamble continuously despite financial and social consequences or a desire to stop. It is seen as being out of control and dominating the person’s life. It is important to note that most gambling is not associated with a mental disorder as it is often a form of recreation in many cultures around the world. “Gambling can be defined as placing something of value at risk in the hopes of gaining something of greater value” (Potenza, 2008). Pathological gambling affects approximately between 0.1 percent and 2 percent of the population (Petry, 2016).

Gambling is the act of risking an object of personal value, usually money, for the chance of winning a greater reward. A gambling disorder, previously known as pathological gambling, is when gambling begins to take over all aspects of life affecting relationships, and work. The category that a gambling disorder should be classified under in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition (DSM-5) has been debated. Gambling disorder previously was classified as an Impulse Control Disorder, but in the new edition, DSM-5, it is classified as a Substance-Related and Addictive Disorder (Clark, 2014). The reason for debate on the topic was because of the characteristics of the disorder,

Obviously, there are glaring inconsistencies with legalized gambling from state to state. Sports gambling and Internet poker are very popular among American gamblers in every state, but both remain almost entirely illegal in the U.S. There are some other gambling black markets, but sports gambling and online poker are the two primary underground markets of truly significant size. Millions of Americans skirt the law by gambling with companies based in different countries where that activity is legal. This is a lucrative market as approximately $30 billion was gambled by Americans with foreign Internet gambling sites from 2003 to 2010. Consequently, the Department of Justice and the FBI have shut down several high profile offshore gambling companies. Nonetheless, this type of activity remains readily available for American consumers as there are 85 countries with sanctioned Internet gambling.

The DSM-V defines gambling as “risking something of value in the hopes of obtaining something of greater value” (2013). Gambling can be a social event, entertainment or a professional pursuit. It is accepted in many cultures and for most people gambling will not result in negative consequences. For others, gambling can risk livelihood, relationships and personal well-being.

Gambling has some many problems and money is one of them. When people are having hard times with money they turn to gambling like it is the answer. On top that the places that people go gambling at makes the environment so comfortable that they want to stay. There are times that someone might gamble so much that they stop caring about their own health.