Weekly Discussion 1

Legalization of Casino Gaming: Pros and Cons

There are so many opinions on gambling and its effects on the society. In fact
sociologists, economists, and legal experts hold different views on the issue of gambling. In
spite of these different views, people will continue to gamble and bet whether it is legalized
or not. The primary concern for me would be the overall impact of the legalization or
criminalization of casino gambling in my state. If we have learned anything from the fight
against drugs is that a hard stance on drugs such as criminalization and incarceration of drug
users does not help and a clearer and effective approach such the Netherlands harm-reduction
policy is desirable (Simons-Morton, Pickett, Boyce, Ter Bogt, and Vollebergh, 2010). This
does not mean that drug use should be made legal because the consequences are quite clear.
Similarly, criminalizing casino betting is not efficient because people will find a way to bet
whether there are laws against it or not.

Pros of Legalizing Casino Gambling in the State

I would go for legalizing casino gambling in the state on three grounds. First, casino
gambling has been around in the American society for more than three decades (Eadington,
1999). Consequentially, betting has become sort of a culture. This means that criminalizing
gambling could actually be met with resistance. Second, legalizing casino gambling means
more revenue for the state because of license fees. Legalizing casino gambling could increase
the revenues for the state thereby lowering the tax burden on the state’s residents. The third
ground is that legalizing casino gambling brings it close to the watchful eye of the state
government meaning that it will be easy to monitor the activities and prevent any illegal
activities there on. According to Eadington (1999), casinos have been a crucial source of
revenue and economic transformation for Nevada. I do not see a reason why the same cannot
happen to our state.

Cons of Legalizing Casino Gambling

On the flip side, legalizing casino gambling has its downsides especially from a
sociological perspective. It follows that gambling is a mental disease that is difficult to deal
with (Strong and Kahler, 2007). This means that the population of people with gambling
problems will increase in the state. It will be challenging for the state to strike a balance
between all the above benefits and the negative impact on mental health in the state
(Chhabara, 2007). According to Chhabara (2007), legalizing gambling could increase the
costs of mental health.

References

Chhabra, D. (2007). Estimating benefits and costs of casino gambling in Iowa, United
States. Journal of Travel Research, 46(2), 173-182.

Eadington, W. R. (1999). The economics of casino gambling. Journal of economic

perspectives, 13(3), 173-192.
Simons-Morton, B., Pickett, W., Boyce, W., Ter Bogt, T. F., & Vollebergh, W. (2010).
Cross-national comparison of adolescent drinking and cannabis use in the United
States, Canada, and the Netherlands. International Journal of Drug Policy, 21(1), 64-
69.

Strong, D. R., & Kahler, C. W. (2007). Evaluation of the continuum of gambling problems
using the DSM‐IV. Addiction, 102(5), 713-721.