Gambling Legalization Essay Example for Free

Gambling Legalization Essay Gambling is the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize). (Oxford dictionary) Many have their own opinions about gambling and at this time gambling is not legally practiced here in The Bahamas. â€Å"Such a move would bring an end to an illicit industry that makes tens of millions of dollars a year and which employs hundreds; but which contributes little to the general good of the Bahamian people. † (The Bahama Journal 2008). There are many aspects of gambling that can indeed be looked upon positively. â€Å"Gambling comes in many forms, including betting in casinos, racetracks, sporting events, lotteries, bingo games and even virtual gambling on the Internet† (Oddo 2007) Gambling should indeed be legalized, because it will help our economy and society in many ways. If gambling is practiced it’ll give persons with idle time on their hands, something to do and it can also boost our tourism industry. The legalization of gambling here in The Bahamas will lead to an increase in the Bahamas’ Gross domestic Product (GDP), an increase in employment, and finally it can contribute to our entertainment industry. The legalization of gambling would be of grave benefit for our Government as it relates to the Gross Domestic Product In an article titled ‘Legalizing gambling in The Bahamas’ written by Craig Butler his argument for gambling was that the Prime Minister Rt. Honorable Hubert Ingraham should enforce gambling and put an independent company of auditors to oversee this new development. â€Å"If gambling is to be legalized then he must cause the infrastructure to be put in place that will avoid the inevitable attempts at tampering and manipulation by ingenious persons. † (Butler 2008). Once this takes place the Government will be able to implement a taxing system with our own internal revenue service (IRS) so that a certain percentage of the money i. e. twenty five percent will go to the Government in result more money would be spent on more capital goods, meaning more school’s will be built and more work infrastructure on our roads will be carried out. In America, Statistics show that approximately 92. 27 billion dollars comes from gambling on a yearly basis. If this same scenario would apply to us here in The Bahamas that will mean that gambling would be of benefit to our revenue and finance sector. Some believe that legalizing gambling would only allow the Government a free share of the money, and that share will only be spent on their own needs. They will use this money to purchase more cars for them to be chauffeured around in, to have more ‘business’ dinners for themselves, and to spend on five day trips all around the world and the economy won’t feel a dime of it. They are partially right because most people are used to politicians being voted in the House of Assembly and never coming around to visit their constituents, therefore they lack the trust in believing that the Government will deliver once they start to receive the percentage of winnings. However, they are misguided because the Government forecasts a certain percentage of money to go into capital goods every year during the budget and the normal percentage that is set aside for education and health care can rise and can be use more significantly. â€Å"But the legalization of this habit will not lead to an exponential rise in the number of gamblers. It will, however, allow government to fund programmes that can have a positive impact on our youth, such as community centres, sports and education facilities. † (Butler 2008) Mr. Butler makes it evidently clear in his analysis in the Bahama pundit that if the Government had the extra funds they would use it wisely. For example, there’s now a system set up by National Insurance for the unemployed. The unemployment benefit pays 100 dollars a week to those unemployed and if the Government receives more money this can to go up. Not only Bahamians will be getting taxed but foreigners as well. Therefore all of the foreigners that are here now using our casinos and going back with everything, would have to leave that twenty five percent tax fee for the government. Legalizing gambling would also lead to a decrease in the unemployment rate. In an article entitled ‘Gambling Entertainment’, it states that â€Å"The large percentage of employment provided by the Gambling industry, including the land based casinos as well as the Online casinos, puts gambling industry on the top of society chart straight away. † Having gambling legalized would automatically mean that employment will increase. At present Gambling is in the ‘underground economy’ mark when it comes to calculating the unemployment rate. Since it’s illegal workers are considered to be employed, however legally they’re counted as unemployed when it comes to the unemployment rate. In an article written by Olivia Saunders, Saunders illustrated the unemployment rate in a diagram that showed an unemployment rate of 7. 8 percent. Out of this 7. 8 percent count are the people that are already presently working for number houses, if we legalize gambling that rate would automatically decrease. Many are lead to believe that legalizing gambling won’t decrease the unemployment rate, because there are already a substantial amount of lottery houses opened already and there are still many unemployed, it’s impossible for this to help our unemployed, and even if it does, it won’t completely take care of the problem. They are partially right because legalizing gambling won’t lead to a complete decline in the unemployment rate, and it won’t be able to employ everyone without a job, however they are misguided because it will help tremendously. Legalizing gambling means that more lotto shops will be able to open, not only in Nassau but also on the family islands which will attract more tourists. Therefore they’ll need more staff, this will also lead to more casinos and more people will be hired in many different aspects. For example they’ll need cleaners, cashiers, coupe and hostesses. The real truth is there are many different aspects in our economy that contributes to the unemployment rate both increasing and decreasing and this rate can never be steady. However once gambling is legalized and there are more venues opened then it’s a necessity to hire people to work in them, and these people will then count towards the unemployment rate and it’ll then decrease. Finally the legalization of gambling can be used as a sport and a form of entertainment. The only form of gambling is not purchasing numbers from the lotto shops as some Bahamians are blindsided to believing, however it is also a sport. There was once a horse racing venue that was used as a sport over here in 1976 but had to leave because gambling wasn’t legal. Legalizing gambling would allow this form of entertainment to once again be practiced. In a journal named ‘Gambling The cost of our future,’ it indicates that ‘Those who participate in gambling activities do so voluntarily and, in return, receive intrinsic benefits from their consumption. Furthermore, if consumers are gambling for entertainment purposes, they are purchasing gambling just as they would purchase tickets for the cinema or a symphony. † (Basham, White). This statement raises a thoughtful argument because gambling is indeed a risk however this risk is on the same level of buying a cinema ticket and you’re not sure if the movie will play or a symphony and you’re not sure if you’ll enjoy it. Opponents believe that having gambling as sports can only lead to more financial problems for an unstable financial home. They may argue that gambling is an addictive game and some families aren’t ready for the strain that this addiction entails, and some people may be willing to do anything to satisfy this addiction like commit robbery. Gambling addiction is also referred to as compulsive gambling or pathological gambling. Medical Author Roxanne Dryden-Edwards raise a valuable point in her article ‘Gambling Addiction’ stating that â€Å"The number of people who gamble socially qualify for being diagnosed with a gambling addiction range from 2%-5%, thereby affecting millions of people in the United States alone. † (Dryden- Edwards) Some may debate that If The Bahamas population is only 316,000 compared to the United States, then our percentage will be more harmful if gambling is practice. But they are misguided because this entertainment and sport may not be addictive but relatively fun and exciting and a good family event for most, even though there may be some bad apples the pros may outweigh the cons. The real truth is that almost everything we do as a form of gaming exercise is pleasurable and having more opportunities will make gambling more enjoyable. The Government can also implement a system so that gamblers that develop the addiction can be fully taken care of and receive psychiatric help called Gamblers Anonymous’ (GA). According to the the 12 step recovery program statistics â€Å"Of those in their fourth month of AA meeting attendance (i. e. have stayed beyond 90-days) 56% will still be attending AA at the end of that year. † (Holding all others constant if this system is practiced here with addicts treatment will be beneficial. In conclusion, gambling can contribute to our economy significantly. Many feel as though gambling will cause more harm than good, however if it’s practiced correctly and everyone abide to the laws that would be put in place, gambling will be more than just an easy way to win a substantial amount of money it’ll be a form of entertainment for many, it’ll be a sport that can be family orientated and finally it can be a way for our economy to jump back into the expansionary boom period and no longer claim that we are in a recession. Works Cited Gambling: http://wordnetweb. princeton. edu/perl/webwn? s=gambling Gambling Revenue: Current year data, Fact Sheets Statistics. 2003 American Gaming Associations http://www. americangaming. org/Industry/factsheets/statistics_detail. cfv? id=7 Saunders Olivia. ‘Unemployment in The Bahamas’ Gambling Entertainment. 2006 Royal World Casinos http://www. royalworldcasino. com/gambling_entertainment. html Oddo, Alfonso. The Economics and ethics of casino gambling. Review of Business. March 22, 1997. http://www. allbusiness. com/specialty-businesses/653985-1. html Patrick Basham and Karen White. Gambling with Our Future? The Costs and Benefits of Legalized Gambling. http://oldfraser. lexi. net/publications/digital/gamblingwithourfuture. pdf http://www. bahamapundit. com/2008/02/legalizing-gamb. html http://www. jonesbahamas. com/? c=128a=15872 http://www. medicinenet. com/gambling_addiction/article. htm http://www. 12step. com/statistics. html.