Could Society Benefit From Legalized, Online Gambling?

Let me ask a simple but very important question: What good would come from banning online gambling? Would we be better off? Next question: What happened when we (the US gov't) banned alcohol? It gave rise to the biggest growth spurt of organized crime in US history. It made for successful underground criminals and criminal activities. The outlaws that ran with the opportunities took the people's money, their free time, their entertainment, and only the criminals won. Illicit Drugs are banned, think about that! You don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

You don't ban R-rated movies, you simply regulate them. When one can get in only by showing proper ID, you've make it possible for those who want to see the film to get into the theatre. But, by banning the film, we would get illegal, high-priced, bootlegged copies that every kid in town could see. The same argument can be used for online gambling. Regulate it, monitor it, and make it available to those who want to do it. But at the same time, it make it very difficult for children to gamble. By regulating it, monitoring it, and yes, even taxing it, we would be able to follow the money and learn who is really behind the online gambling sites. If they were a terrorist group for example, we'd revoke the license and put them out of business. Banning online gambling only makes it possible, and yes, even easy for criminals or terrorists to benefit from it, and even control it. There is a war against drugs.

Where has the war against drugs gotten us? If drugs like Marijuana were legalized in the US, related criminals and their crimes would disappear. If it were sold in legal stores, the underground, criminal activity would have no reason to exist. Further, think of the tax money we'd gain through the sales, and the tax money we'd save because we'd not be taking care of thousands of people in jails for illegal use. What would we do with all that tax money? It's estimated that tax money gained from the sale of marijuana would be $1.8 Billion per year. That would fund universal health care for all Americans, benefit the schools, and the police would get a big shot in the arm (pun intended). One more question: Aren't you tired of Big Gov't telling you what you can do and what you cannot do? What kind of society is that? We're still like the child who wants everything he can't have. Take something away, and he wants it even more. Conversely, you can diminish the allure by making it legal, available and taxed. If addiction is your concern, can you say that online gambling is more likely to control someone than a land-based casino?

I think not, but I do believe that regulated casinos care more about credit limitations than do the unregulated ones that would drain a person dry. Remember, the license of a regulated casino is in jeopardy should they operate like that. An unregulated casino would never give you information nor help you in the case of addiction, whereas a regulated one would have to. So, as is true about many activities, education is the best answer, antidote, weapon and controller of an individual's behavior in a casino, not banning them. There are thousands of good-paying jobs in casinos around the World. There are Millions of happy, non-addicted gamblers as well. No one would gain anything by telling all those people they can no longer engage in gambling activities. That would mean a ban of "investing" by other means as well. No one could buy and sell in the stock market. No more Insurance companies could operate. Maybe you couldn't pick your future wife or husband... talk about a gamble! So, it's time the gov't stopped making these mistakes. It's the same thing year after year; some do-gooder thinks he/she can make a name by pushing this stupid and dangerous idea on the public. Banning online gambling is the Wrong Answer!

Buzz B Berkeley is a Gambling aficionado - OK, a fanatic! He's been an author, teacher, lecturer, dealer, seminar and workshop producer. He has written many books on Gambling. He does upon occasion get "political" on his blog when it comes to your rights to choose what you want to do. He's an outspoken critic of the Gambling Ban in the US. You can receive his FREE Newsletter at: http://www.buzzongambling.com His best-selling book on Craps can be found at: http://www.winningcrapsmoney.com