Casino Gambling Should Not Be Allowed In Texas Again - Paper Example

Introduction

The history of both regulated and unregulated gambling in the United States is long culminating into the current debate as to whether the legislators should pass laws that allow controlled gambling. Proponents have argued that it adds revenue to the government and also cite constitutional freedom of choice guaranteed in the constitution. The opponents of gambling show the negative social and economic implications of allowing Casinos to operate in the country which includes suicide, bankruptcy, increased crime, family issues among several others. Casinos should not be allowed in Texas despite many states seemingly relaxing such laws which have resulted in the introduction of casinos spread across the city neighborhoods. This work defends the above standby introducing the history of the gambling menace, past challenges and what different research studies have concluded about Legalizing Casinos. The impacts of participation in Casinos are drawn from various research studies examined to help back up the need to outlaw operation of Casinos in Texas State.

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Compulsive Tendencies of the Gambling

Every day there are new stories told in the televisions, radio, online and other advertisement platforms about the winners in the casino and how winners have improved the livelihood but they fail to tell the dark side of addictive nature of gamblers. Casino gambling should therefore not be legalized in Texas due to the addictive nature of the gaming. Most people who have had an experience with the gambling menace account how the addiction into the game led to serious psychological problems as they struggled to raise money and participate. It is easy to start as a fun but research has proven that with time people become addicted to the extent that they can't help themselves out of the menace. Gambling addiction high than that of drug, alcohol and substance abuse (Doeden 34).

Research from people who started gambling as a fun and probability game shows that they end up developing suicidal thoughts. No one knows at the exact time when things start to turn horrific but certain signs develop when one starts to lose personal wealth to an extent of getting into deep loans to service the gambling practices. Casinos are part of the gambling that has high levels of addiction. There are quite a lot of different games including slot machines and online gaming features that make the game easily accessible to the people compared to the past due to the advent of internet technology. The state government, therefore, have a role to play in prohibiting Casinos in the state since it introduces high chances of addiction, especially among the young generations. Prohibition should be affected since experience with the states which have legalized or opted to control they have not managed to address the compulsive tendencies that result into addiction (Doeden 35). The legalization of Casinos would, therefore, mean adding more psychiatric healthcare costs to the state as they will have increased cases of suicidal tendencies and addictions.

Crime is synonymous with gambling as research suggest that history has shown the high connection between crime rates and gambling menace. History shows that unregulated gambling in the 1800s was breeding ground for crime as people involved in large sum winning were very vulnerable to robbery. Crime would happen in several ways resulting to murder at times when the gamblers suspected foul play. In modern days lawmakers are faced with similar challenges as people who are addicted to the gambling result into corruption and crime to solicit money for gambling. Widespread scandals and corruption among those gambling administrators portray a bad picture and history about legalizing gambling. The behavior of people chasing loses results into crime as they gamble more and more eventually losing every asset they hold. Those who found themselves in the vicious cycle of addiction cite crime as the easiest way they could engage with to obtain additional resources for gambling (Doeden 6).

History has taught the United States hard lessons about the impact of gambling on the economy and the country. Stealing money is very common among individuals who develop compulsive behavior to gamble (Clary 71). Proponents of legalization will argue that the government can raise taxes from gambling but it's a negative social and human impact show higher costs than financial gain. The anguish, emotional pain, increased crime to name but few means that the costs by far outdo the few resources that government can solicit from the Casino. The hidden human costs emanating from allowing legalizing casino in Texas states provides ground as to why the government should not loosen the law outlawing casino games in the state.

A number of researchers have examined the relationship between the casino and the high social costs related to bankruptcy and unemployment. There are several problems identified with the cities that have set several casinos mostly related to people who have become bankrupt ruining their lives and that of their families. In urban neighborhoods, most of the people who feel the social impact are the communities living in a nearby. The heavy impacts are felt especially if such Casinos are set in nearby residential areas. Any new taxes raised from the casino gambling are negated by the fact that the government has to deal with increased spending on crime, rehabilitation, and administration. When the profit proceeds are realized from those casinos most of it benefits the investors as opposed to the majority of it benefiting the local neighborhood. The fact is that most of the people end up being poorer as their resources are drained to fund the lifestyle of the few 'investors' who control those casinos (Conway and Aileen 33).

The negative impacts that Casinos bring to the cities within which they are situated as identified by critical evaluation studies indicate that there are greater social and economic costs as compared to major infrastructures and economic benefits offered by the gambling companies as part of the social corporate responsibility. City for instance that gets a good stadia infrastructure due to proceeds from Casino gambling have to struggle with increased crime, suicidal tendencies and rising poverty levels which may have a negative impact on its image in attracting tourism or investment. Casinos cannot guarantee economic gains but rather in most states that they have been legalized and regulated by the state governments the results have been high social and economic costs which do not measure up to the revenue benefits derived by the government in form of revenues from the taxes (Rodenberg, Ryan and Anastasios 10).

As states continue to legislate and accommodate various forms of controlled casino gambling Texas government ought to prohibit any attempt to introduce such laws to allow Casino shop in its neighborhood. There various laws that have been enacted at a federal level to prohibit any form of gambling such as unlawful internet gambling Act 2006. There are also other laws such as the Illegal business Act of 1970, The Wire Act 1961 and PASPA all seeking to prohibit gambling whether online or in gambling joints (Rodenberg, Ryan and Anastasios 11). Apparently, there are serious challenges when it comes to allowing gambling especially in the advent of new internet technology. The control of betting in the age of information communication technology poses serious challenges especially due to other risks such as cybercrime and terrorist activities. The contemporary crime scenes have shifted to online with networks and money laundering activities. Allowing Casino in Texas opens more frontiers of crime especially cybercrime. The addictive nature of the gambling characterized by loss of one's savings and properties provides more motivation for cybercrime and hacking as the gamblers seek means of financing their compulsive behaviors.

Negative Impact of Casinos

The youths have high tendencies to get trapped into casinos leading to high levels of laziness and unemployment. The culture of working hard, and smart to earn one's living would be lost with the introduction of the Casinos. There are no shortcuts to building wealth as opposed to what most people engaged in gambling belief. People participating in Casinos would normally pursue it for the purpose of getting wealthy overnight. Soon they realize that they have become entrapped in what opponents of casinos would call chasing losses (Veselka 10). Much time is spent in the casinos in the name of maximizing one's fortunes rather than focusing on sharpening skills and experience in other professions which would eventually yield divided in form of good remuneration or profitable businesses.

In the present-day growth of the legal gambling business has been driven mainly by improved acceptance by the public who are of the opinion that casino gambling qualifies to be one of the main categories of recreation. Besides, there are many economic benefits not forgetting the tax revenues linked to societies upon where gambling takes place. From this perspectives, it is worth noting that in all undertakings there has been no question regarding whether legalized gambling has ever given rise to any economic benefits particularly to communities where it has been allowed a case in point is Texas. In the same way, there ought to have been no question bringing to light any social and economic costs that emanate as a result of allowing problem gambling to the society. Thus, from a public policy standpoint, the critical question ought to be which is larger in relation to the costs or benefits associated with gambling and to what extent. To effectively demonstrate that gambling should not be allowed in Texas again, it is imperative to take into thoughtfulness economic benefits together with social costs of the pathological gambling in a structure that evaluates the overall impact of the gambling in Texas economy and the reasons as to why should not be allowed again (Delfabbro and King 317).

Costs Outweigh Benefits of Gambling

Some of the benefits associated with the business of gambling take account of amplified income as well as employment, more taxation revenue, enhanced tourism and recreational prospects, besides rising property values. It is imperative to note to realize that gambling has to a great extent contributed to economic as well as social costs concerning individuals and communities. A number of these increased costs entail increased call for more public infrastructure or services (including police, roads, schools as well as fire protection and others). Other costs that greatly makes it hard to have gambling allowed again in Texas include traffic congestion, increased rates of crime, devastating effects on the environment, dislocation of local residents and more to that pathological gambling. As if that is not enough, it is worth noting that the extent that pathological gambling leads in bad debts together with bankruptcy such impact is so devastating in that the cost of credit tends to be amplified throughout the economy. In this paper, the term costs refer to the negative consequences connected to pathological gambling predominantly concerning gamblers, immediate social environments and the overall society (Rodenberg, Ryan and Anastasios 11).

In response to the critical question which is larger regarding costs or benefits to a larger extent, it can be argued that in Texas cost of gambling exceeds the benefits hence the reason for advocating for it not be allowed again. The extent of the cost exceeding benefits is as a result of the theory determined only using benefit-cost analysis. More to that the reality of the matter is that cost-benefits tend to be complicated considerin...