Illegal Gambling - Essay Example

Illegal gambling is considered a criminal offense in most countries across the globe. Though there are states, which allow, it is prohibited in others. Gambling involves activities such as casinos, poker rooms, or horseracing tracks. It mainly involves placing a bet with anything of value for a chance of winning. However, the possibility of losing is also considered. Therefore, to control these most governments have formulated policies to make some forms of gambling illegal. There are various reasons why it should remain illegal. Considering critical issues such as fraud caused by parties involved, inflating social costs, health concerns particularly progressive addiction tend to justify the reason why it is prohibited in some countries. The consequence of these includes social, physical, and psychological effects to the gamblers and also their friends and relatives.

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Most people who engage in gambling are associated with fraud. In relation to this Wang and Georgios indicate that Gambling can not only provide good opportunities for loan sharking, illegal drug distribution, money laundering, and prostitution but also offer working capital to invest in legitimate businesses, strengthening organized criminals entire illicit operations (Peng 259). They continue to elaborate in the paper that one area that appears to have been prevalent over the last five years is that of fraudulent gambling activities on the internet and reviews some of these which he states as lottery scam, fake gambling site scams, betting software scams, gambling bonus scams and prize scams.

A study carried out by Petry et al on an American Journal on Addictions, indicated that internet gambling was frequently associated with poor mental health after controlling for demographics and pathological gambling (Petry ). In addition, many gamblers have mixed feelings about their families; they may often feel unhappy and anxious. It results in a lot of fear since one may be overrun by their responsibilities. Depression is also inevitable which leads such persons to lack sleep and other types of psychological distress. Many of the individuals who engage in gambling are also unstable economically. They always run into debts since all their income is invested in the gamble. Despite its addictive nature, they continue to gamble believing they will recuperate their losses as Ricijas et al put it Motives to earn money through gambling and to become better in gambling also predict more adverse psychological consequences and loss of control (Ricijas 172).

In addition to economic sabotage to the gambler, gambling is associated with criminal activities. Many gamblers are idle and since it involves a large amount of money. A research carried out by Zorland et al indicates, Problem gambling is strongly associated with criminal activities (Zorland et al 5). It indicates that the issue is greater among individuals who offend than the public. They recommend for screening among individuals who commit criminal activities to identify their gambling problems. These individuals may need a lot of help and treatment to deal with the issue. Some states consider gambling to be a source of revenue for their economy. In Las Vegas, for instance, there has been tremendous growth because of these activities. However, the point of concern is whether the costs involved in this are actually exceeding the economic benefits. There is also another point of thought if there are other economic activities apart from gambling which contributed to the growth. In view of these, gambling is considered to have varied effects from one person to the other while some experience positive rewards, it is not long lasting.

Many people have suffered emotional problems that affect once ability to solve problems including family issues. Many gamblers have the withdrawal syndrome. They actually feel ashamed to be physically close to their family members. The gambler feels like a loser and therefore lacks the love and support from the family. These affect the normal life of the person forcing them into debts. In the extreme circumstances, one can lose his/her property. It has resulted in physical and mental health issues especially when one is addicted. Stress is very common among such individuals. According to a study carried out by George et al In comparison with non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers were significantly more likely to have greater academic failures, higher psychological distress scores, higher chances of suicide and higher ADHD symptom scores (George et al 200).

There is also the tendency of the poor people in society to continually engage in gambling hoping to acquire wealth. It is because they are mostly vulnerable and therefore they are the target market and are always expectant of quick profits. Casinos and lotteries are profit driven and they use sophisticated techniques to ensure that they win most of the time. It is in view of these that most gamblers from the low economic levels in the society do not have any chances of winning. Children who grow up in families where parents engage in gambling have issues. Darbyshire et al, indicate, By any criteria, the situation of children living in problem gambling families represents a significant social and child health issue (Darbyshire 26). The children suffer from lack of family environment stability as they lack routine roles to play in the family. They lack people to express their feelings and emotions to since they grow in an environment of lies, deception, and full of illusions.

It is, therefore, evident that illegal gambling has adverse consequences not only on the gamblers but also on the society. It might seem that those who gamble benefit from it but they encounter more losses that what they actually get. There are economic, social, psychological, and physical consequences that occur because of the issue and it is reason enough for every nation to address and deal with illegal gambling. In relation, Yau et al state, Recognizing behavioral addictions and developing appropriate diagnostic criteria are important in order to increase awareness of these disorders and to further prevention and treatment strategies (Yau et al 134).

Works cited

Petry, Nancy M., and Jeremiah Weinstock. "Internet gambling is common in college students and associated with poor mental health." American Journal on Addictions 16.5 (2007): 325-330.

Darbyshire, Philip, Candice Oster, and Helen Carrig. "The experience of pervasive loss: Children and young people living in a family where parental gambling is a problem." Journal of gambling studies 17.1 (2001): 23-45.

Wang, Peng, and Georgios A. Antonopoulos. "Organized crime and illegal gambling: How do illegal gambling enterprises respond to the challenges posed by their illegality in China?." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 49.2 (2016): 258-280.

Ricijas, Neven, Dora Dodig Hundric, and Aleksandra Huic. "Predictors of adverse gambling related consequences among adolescent boys." Children and youth services review 67 (2016): 168-176.

Zorland, Jennifer, et al. "The prevalence of problem gambling among substance abusing offenders." Journal of Gambling Issues (2013): 1-8.

George, Sanju, et al. "A cross-sectional study of problem gambling and its correlates among college students in South India." British Journal of Psychiatry Open 2.3 (2016): 199-203.

Yau, Ms Yvonne HC, and Marc N. Potenza. "Gambling disorder and other behavioral addictions: recognition and treatment." Harvard review of psychiatry 23.2 (2015): 134.