It is illegal for children/youth to gamble. Nevertheless, 24% of 17 year olds in Georgia purchased lottery tickets last year, 17% of 13 year olds also purchased tickets [1]. 32%, 35%, and 35% of minors purchased lottery tickets in Louisiana [2]. 75% of high school students in Massachusetts purchased lottery tickets [3]. With the lottery among the most popular forms of gambling, a Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling study demonstrated that one in ten high school students were compulsive gamblers. [4]
Introduction of gambling causes an increase in weapon use at school by children/youth
for 28% to 47%. Also caused an increase in fighting from 25% of non-gambling youth to
45% - 62% depending upon level of dependency. [5]
While 392,764 persons (by 1997) received H.O.P.E Scholarships in Georgia, up to
17,700 adolescents had also experienced severe problems with gambling. Another estimated
39,100 to 56,800 adolescents in Georgia are at risk for developing gambling related
problems. [6] In other words, for every twenty-one persons (not all children) who receive
a H.O.P.E Scholarship in Georgia, one additional child becomes addicted.
In fact, Money Magazine's extensive research shows that nationwide, "...lottery
states collect more in taxes and spend less on schools than states that go without the games."
[7]
Lotteries draw money out of the economy instead of pumping it up. A survey of
1,200 California stores reported an average decline in food sales of 7% with the
introduction of the California lottery. [8]
The 298 counties in the US with the highest bankruptcy rates had a bankruptcy
increase of 18% directly the result of gambling. Shelby County has the highest
concentratoin surrounding it and as a result has the highest bankruptcy rate in the
US. [9]
No state lottery in the US works unless it is marketed to the poor. [10]
Nationwide, marketing is increased immediately around the time of mailing of welfare and ssocial security checks. [11]
Nationwide, the ticket outlets must be located in the poorer communities for a lottery to work. Few if any are located in wealthier communities. [12]
The top five percent of lottery players buy 51% of all lottery tickets. The top
10 percent account for two-thirds of the total ticket sales, and the top 20 percent of
frequent players produce 81 percent of sales. [13] In Virginia, 29% of the state's
lottery ticket sales are made to just 2% of it's adult population who are the poorest. [14]
Every state that has a lottery has had higher increases in taxes than those that do not for the same period. [15]
Local sales taxes, income taxes and property taxes are forced to increase because money which would have gone to goods and services taxed by local entities have shifted to lotteries leaving lower revenue for loca governments. [16]
Each new problem gambler bring new costs to staes of at least $13,000 per person (1994 figures). [17] In Illinois, a non-exhaustive list of direct costs of gambling range from $300 million to over $2 billion.
No money from the proposed lottery referendum will provide any tax relief [18]
Inherent to all forms of gambling, with the lottery providing the worse
odds, the majority always looses!