How Does Gambling Affect Society

Even though gambling in the United States has been treated for years as just another benign form of entertainment ─ like going to the movies or amusement park ─ it has so many detrimental effects on society that it is time for legislation to be enforced rendering it illegal. With gambling being legal to some extent in every state except Utah and Hawaii, (Hammer 2001), gambling has become an accepted part of American culture, with popular vacation destinations such as Las Vegas now being touted as places to bring the whole family. It is not surprising that 51 percent of American adults consider casino gambling “acceptable for anyone,” (Popkin and Hetter 1994), as the proliferation of sports books and new casinos on virtually every Indian reservation continues unabated. Adding gambling addictions, scams, the drain on taxes, and the unchecked expansion of Internet gambling to the mix, this lucrative industry is draining much of the life out of families and the economy to the point that its illegalization is the only answer. With America’s continued economic …show more content…
All forms of gambling that take place via the Internet, lotteries, sports books, and casinos have detrimental effects on society by not only siphoning its funds, but by leading into other destructive behaviors and afflictions, such as depression, addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, drug use, broken homes, and the list goes on and on. Even though regulations can mitigate some of the damage caused by gambling, they will never work to root out the ill effects it has inflicted upon society. Laws declaring gambling illegal in the United States will combat not only the economic demise in which it has entrenched many Americans; it will work to heal many of the social wounds that have come along with