| mySPIN |
 North Carolina’s gambling problem
by Tom Campbell
September 17, 2009
Yes, we’ve got trouble right here in Carolina. Trouble that starts with “T” and rhymes with “G” and stands for gambling. Our Music Man impersonation aside, lurking below the radar screen unregulated gambling is quietly and rapidly growing out of control.
I make no apology for opposing legalized gambling. It is lousy public policy, an ineffective way to raise tax revenues, morally wrong, and preys on people who can ill afford it. But I uphold your right to spend your cash any way you want, even though your chances of winning the Nobel Peace Prize are greater than winning the Powerball jackpot.
Our current dilemma has three complicating factors. The first is former Governor Jim Hunt’s decision to grant the Cherokee Indians authority to operate a casino on their reservation. Hunt largely desired to improve the economic plight of tribe members and the economic well being of the western part of the state. Both goals were realized but created another huge legal problem.
A recent court ruling says we cannot give the Cherokee special privileges that are not granted all other citizens of our state, making the video poker ban unconstitutional. An appellate court is expected to uphold the lower court, which will result in video poker machines spreading faster than kudzu.
Video sweepstakes games are already infiltrating convenience stores, Internet cafes, neighborhood bars and dedicated gaming parlors. Players purchase cards that entitle them to a certain amount of Internet or phone time, but primarily these are game cards to determine if the purchaser has won instant cash. The complication is that these games are thinly-disguised legitimate purchases, similar to the games at fast food outlets, under bottle caps, lottery tickets or even The Publishers’ Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. The conundrum is how to regulate the new sweepstakes games without affecting the other, more innocuous games.
Then there’s our state’s lottery. Our state has lost whatever moral high ground we had. We are principals in the gambling game. Our lottery generates lots of cash, provides some high-paying jobs for a few and produces a large volume of TV ad revenues imploring people to play the games, but they have yet to be the bonanza promised to public education. Their popularity, however, would make it impossible to banish the games.
Here’s where we are. North Carolina is experiencing a rapid expansion of unlicensed, unregulated, and untaxed gambling. Ignoring or refusing to address the problems is absurd, but that has been our policy to date. New legislation banning video poker and its derivatives isn’t going to happen because no governor or legislature will take away the Cherokee gaming authority. In fact, Governor Perdue is even considering allowing table games at Harrah’s casino. We certainly aren’t going to eliminate the state lottery.
We’re stuck with gambling and our only choice is to regulate and tax the games to ensure the minimization of crime and the maximization of benefit to our citizens. We must charge stiff fees to license machines and hefty penalties for those found unlicensed, using those fees to pay for enforcement and addiction counseling. Then we must tax the revenues to take pressure off our beleaguered state budget. These are the safest bets to deal with North Carolina’s gambling problem. |
|
