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Dylan16807

Banning other lotteries should make it much harder for those people to get hooked in the first place, shouldn't it?

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Lotteries were originally run by organized crime. Legalizing state run lotteries was essentially the cure for that.

There are ways to make Lotteries fair, even without it being state sponsored.

For example, the old Numbers[0] games often used public, hard to influence sources.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdIzYtnKDII

You think lotteries are only 100 years old?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lottery#Early_United_States_16...

>Lotteries in colonial America played a significant part in the financing of both private and public ventures. It has been recorded that more than 200 lotteries were sanctioned between 1744 and 1776, and played a major role in financing roads, libraries, churches, colleges, canals, bridges, etc.[5] In the 1740s, the foundation of Princeton and Columbia Universities was financed by lotteries, as was the University of Pennsylvania by the Academy Lottery in 1755.

> Lotteries were originally run by organized crime.

In BC, they still are.

“B.C. disbanded RCMP unit after report warned possible crime figure bought stake in casino”

https://globalnews.ca/news/6403415/organized-crime-bc-casino...

“BC Lottery Corp. didn’t block mysterious casino cash due to ‘hundreds of millions’ in estimated losses: inquiry”

https://globalnews.ca/news/7607782/bc-lottery-corporation-my...

“Lottery corporation was aware of suspicious cash at B.C. casinos, former VP says”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ex-lottery-v...

“B.C. lottery CEO 'blown away' by organized crime threat”

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-lottery-ceo-blown-away-by-organize...

Our previous government was literally criminal. An excellent investigative journalist wrote a book about it. Well worth becoming aware of what went on.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57427971-wilful-blindnes...

One of the big reasons state lotteries got enacted was to make it much harder for illegal gambling dens to operate.

If there were legal means to gamble, people would choose that - so the theory goes. Harm reduction of sorts was the major selling point in my state when I was a kid.

Gambling in general was much more broadly illegal back when the first state lotteries were established. Nowadays, there are many legal ways to gamble in the US.

Is congress even given the power to ban lotteries? Tenth amendment gives all power not delegated to congress to the states. Unless lottery is interstate commerce it's not delegated to congress.

Unless you have a plan to undo Wickard v. Filburn, yes they have the authority.

Wickard actually had to do with interstate commerce though. Filburn's actions could reasonably cause interstate grain prices to go down. What's interstate about a state run lottery?

Moving money between people has just as much effect on interstate commerce as growing your own grain for personal use.

I believe they'll still find a way, as the article describes. There will be an unmet need and potential market that will be satisfied, outside the bounds of what's lawful.

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