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Common Arguments for Gambling:

• People are gambling anyway. If commercial gambling is legalized in GA, problem gambling rates likely double, ads promoting gambling would be legal, and the government can confiscate personal property to cover gambling debts. You could also say “People are already __ anyway” – speeding, stealing, abusing, raping, trafficking – Is it OK as long as we can tax and regulate it?
• It’s a free market issue. Gambling is not free market as an entire regulatory agency is created and legislators limit markets via licensing to a few profiteers.
• I gamble and I don’t have a problem or addiction. Gambling business makes little profit off non-problem gamblers and can’t succeed without creating problem gamblers. Their games are designed to trigger addiction in vulnerable people.
• We need the tax revenue. First, the costs from gambling issues far exceed the revenue. One could use the same excuse for legalizing opioids. Next, as gambling operations make huge profits, they have $$ to influence your elections. They will replace “unfriendly” lawmakers, then systematically lessen taxes and regulation of gambling. Last, if casinos are allowed in GA, Indian tribes will be able to open casinos that are less regulated and pay NO state taxes.
• Sports gambling isn’t bad like casinos. It is 5x more addictive, much more accessible because the “casino” is your phone or computer. That makes children easy targets.
• Gambling is like investing in the stock market. Big difference – when you invest in the market, you have reasonable expectation of profit, the company you invest in expects to profit, and the customer benefits by increased goods or services. With gambling, the gambling companies win, almost everyone else loses. Those rare gamblers who win today usually lose tomorrow.
• Don’t force your religious views on the rest of us. It would be so easy to make a number of “religious” arguments against gambling, but the economic and social realities related to gambling are so compelling, common sense should suffice.

Click here to watch Citizen Impact’s video on state-sponsored gambling.

Other resources (printable PDFs):

• Fact Sheet on expanding legal sports gambling
• Talking Points vs Illegal Gambling Ruse
• Costs of Gambling — GA Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities (spoiler alert: the cost ALREADY is over $300 million, without further expansion).
• James Magazine Opinion Article