The Debate on Outlawing Gambling

The Debate on Outlawing Gambling

Millions of people like to gamble, whether it is casino-style games,

lotteries or betting on the global net. For some gambling is an

addiction, a sickness just like alcoholism or cancer, that can destroy

lives but for others it is just a way to have some fun; that’s why

there are some positive and some negative aspects about gambling. Is

the negative point of view strong enough for us to want to outlaw

gambling because of its addictive nature?

Gambling can only be seen as entertainment if the person gambling has

limits on to how much he or she bets and know when to stop. A gambler

starts betting with small amounts of money and slowly larger and

larger bets will follow. There are three stages in gambling addiction,

according to the Arizona Council on Compulsive Gambling, Inc: winning

phase, losing phase and depression phase. The gambler thinks he

creates a better self-image by betting, and losses are seen as bad

luck. Think of what problems may be caused by the non-stop obsession

to win more money after losing some. People’s lives change completely

because of that. The gambler keeps betting until he loses all his

savings and this is where the depression phase comes. The person is

now controlled by the slot machines which seem to be more important

than his family, his job and his other responsibilities. First of all

the family’s savings will be reduced since most of the income will be

spent on gambling and if it’s not enough this is where theft and

criminality comes. The addictive person will begin to steal money from

others or borrow money from friends, frequently absent from work and

this concludes to his total change of his character and personality.

The gambler is now obsessed with winning to cover excessive debt but

he can’t stop if there’s no control, no limits and no support. A

family or ones life can be destroyed by a single high bet that makes

the person lose control which then leads to high debts and when debts