I cast one vote in favor of a state lottery. That ought to rustle some feathers.

But not to worry. My vote is nugatory at best. Won’t change a thing. Unfortunately, the citizens of North Carolina are not being consulted on this controversy while the new governor goes about seeking support from lawmakers.

Before going any further, readers should know that I am personally opposed to gambling. I cannot think of a more stupid way to piddle hard-earned money away, unless I stuck a needle of heroin in my arm.
But I’m also a realist. Like prostitution and alcohol, gambling is a human vice that has survived thousands of years, and it’s not going to disappear no matter how many laws we pass. So let’s get real, folks. Why not turn a negative into a positive?

Not long ago we traveled across the state line to Dillard, Ga., where one convenience store had lines wrapped around the corner with North Carolinians pumping dollars into Georgia coffers, money that could well be used in our own state. It was a stark reminder that gamblers big and small, will invariably find places to squander their money regardless of state statutes. Folks from Virginia are rooting for the anti-lottery faction in our state because they stand to lose $40 million a year from North Carolinians. To be perfectly Frank, I’m one anti-gambler who’d rather see those bucks enhancing programs in our own state.

Law or no law, gamblers are going to gamble. Every day and night, the Cherokee casino bustles with patrons pouring hard-earned cash into money vacuums. Sure, that’s like the poor feeding the rich, but it’s their choice. All the pontificating in the world isn’t going to stop it.

Thirty-seven states now enjoy billions of revenue dollars every year, enhancing programs that would never have been funded otherwise.

In the eight years since our Georgia neighbor has legalized a state lottery, almost $5 billion (that’s with a “B”) have found their way into programs which have helped provide college scholarships for a half million students and funded 308,000 4-year-old kids attending pre-kindergarten programs. In 1999 alone, the Georgia lottery sucked in $2.2 billion in sales.

That’s all non-profit. It goes to programs that either would otherwise be funded by taxes or they wouldn’t exist at all. What are we waiting for?

Well, religious pundits say it’s a sin, and we know that sins can be controlled if we just pass laws against them. Riiight. In one letter to the editor, a citizen wrote, “North Carolinians would have objections to gambling on religious and moral grounds.” There’s that word again.

Some claim the crime rate would escalate because many debtors would be killing and stealing to support the gambling habit. Puhlease. Six of the seven states with the lowest violent crime rate in the nation have a state lottery. Many studies have been conducted that show no correlation between the lottery and criminal conduct.

“It would teach children that gambling is acceptable,” said another citizen, still with her head in the sand. Kids know more about vices and gambling than we do, and the law isn’t what provides the deterrent. Marijuana is also legally unacceptable, but I don’t know of any smokers who give a hoot.

Will some carry it too far, depriving the family? You bet. Those same dreamers will be depriving their families one way or another, lottery or not. They are traveling to Virginia and Georgia every week and month to play the numbers, feeding the economy of another state.

Please don’t tell me about the Founding Fathers and all their so-called morals and the foundations this country was built upon. The first lottery was held in Jamestown in 1612 and provided half the budget for settlers. George Washington used a lottery to support the Revolutionary War effort. Before taxation grew like a monster, lotteries in the South funded the building of bridges, toll roads and schools. Lotteries actually funded the construction of many colleges, including Harvard and Yale.

The first modern lottery started in New Hampshire in 1964 and still thrives. And by the way, New Hampshire ranks 50th among all states in crime in the United States.

After 30 years in law enforcement, the biggest mistake I’ve seen in society is the misconception that people can control social behavior via statute. We don’t like drug users, so make it illegal. Result? Black market. More crime. The Prohibition Era still looms a lesson not learned.

There is one way to settle it all, the American way. It’s called referendum.

It has worked in other states, and it’s time to test our resolve here. Florida could have become the entertainment capital of the nation if gambling had been legalized, yet the people of that state rejected casinos three times over the last four decades. Sure, all those potential dollars are being diverted to Atlantic city, Biloxi and the Bahamas, but the will of the people prevailed.

Why not settle this once and for all, and let North Carolinians decide the lottery issue? That concept reminds me of something called “democracy.”

(Marshall Frank is a retired Miami-Dade police officer and writes mystery-suspense novels. He can be reached at mlf283@aol.com)

 

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