ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160029
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD CULLEN
THE DEFEAT in the Virginia House of Delegates of riverboat gambling on the state's waterways does not end the General Assembly debate over state-sanctioned gambling.
Indeed, the same day the riverboat bill lost, House lawmakers told the state Lottery Department to move forward with plans to join the multistate Powerball lottery game. Gambling supporters are pushing to legalize keno and off-track betting parlors, and still might try to revive riverboat casinos. Once again, the real issue is lost in the noise over details.
Economists continue to argue about the economic impact of gambling. Would they draw in out-of-state tourists, or suction most of their revenue from the strained budgets of Virginia families? It gets much of the attention, but this is hardly the crucial issue.
Law-enforcement officers still express concern that organized crime might follow legalized gambling in the Old Dominion. As a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you there is good reason for those fears. Even if the mob does not get involved, the gambling industry often attracts prostitution and loan-sharking. Robberies, embezzlement and other street crimes increase. But again, this is not the central issue.
Economics and crime are secondary to the debate, and while we should focus on them, we risk missing the more important issue.
Here is what really matters. It is simply wrong for the state to sanction sucker bets and call it economic development.
It is no more right for the state to encourage its people to waste their money, while standing beside the dealer to rake in its cut, than it is for the slick Las Vegas casino operator. Legalized, state-sponsored gambling is anathema to the purpose of good government, which is to protect our freedoms and promote the health, welfare and safety of the people.
Virginia's experiences with full-blown Lotto is now 5 years old, and many of the predictions of its critics have proved true:
The state is addicted to the revenue, now running about $300 million per year. You have a better chance of taking a T-bone away from a Rottweiler than you have of breaking the General Assembly's attachment to the lottery. It won't even share the profits with local governments.
Like all addicts, the state needs more and more to satisfy its craving. Lotto and scratch-off games have peaked, so the proposal now is to add keno and multistate Powerball to squeeze more money out of Virginia's citizens. Thankfully, keno has been temporarily sidetracked, but the pressure will return soon to permit this Las Vegas favorite in Virginia.
The additional money has made no real difference in our quality of life or level of government services. Taxes haven't gone down. In fact, our economy and citizens would be better off if the money wasted on lottery tickets were spent directly on durable goods or real services, or simply saved in the bank. The tax revenue generated by productive economic activity would approach, and might exceed, the lottery take.
Now that Virginia's innocence has been lost, what is the difference if the General Assembly adds new forms of gambling to the mix?
Why add fuel to a forest fire? The lottery's ills are mild compared to the problems that would be created by casino gambling and off-track betting parlors. Pimps don't hang out in bars next to lottery counters, and pickpockets don't haunt the parking lot of lottery headquarters. Fathers don't sit in convenience stores all day waiting for the big score to solve their economic woes.
Casinos would be worse for the problem gamblers. Lottery addicts might waste the grocery money. But, in the 10 minutes it takes to buy a fistful of lottery tickets, the same compulsive gambler could blow a month's mortgage or a winter's electric bill on a single roll of the dice or a two-minute horse race in San Diego. Gambling addiction is real, and has ruined too many families. Gambling debts have been at the heart of too many embezzlement cases, bank robberies and drug-trafficking jobs.
It is wrong to encourage the compulsive gambler with flashy advertising and the state stamp of approval. It is sanctimonious to ease your conscience believing that the profits made off his broken dreams and hungry children are being invested in education.
Our ancestors weren't fools to ban gambling. As is often the case, morality was based on reality. They had seen gambling's evils and decided this was one personal freedom they could do without. Gambling also appeals to our baser instincts and turns a profit off of human weakness, no matter how we dress it up. The General Assembly has gone too far already and should go no farther.
Richard Cullen of Richmond is a former U.S. attorney.
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