Readers of the Daily Post may have noticed an article last Friday, about the efforts by the Colorado Lottery to address problem gambling.
“March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month”
Gambling is a problem, especially for problem gamblers.
The article noted:
Problem gambling is defined as all gambling behavior patterns that compromise, disrupt or damage personal, family or vocational pursuits. Approximately 2 million U.S. adults (1% of the population) are estimated to meet the criteria for severe problem gambling. Another 4-6 million (2-3%) meet the mild or moderate problem gambling criteria.
Gambling is a problem I can identify with, except that all my gambling has occurred in the realm of romance. I’m not known for playing the Colorado Lottery, even though my chances of winning some kind of incidental prize in Powerball — 1:25 — are probably considerably better than the odds of someone falling in love with me. (Odds for Colorado’s Powerball jackpot and Double Play top prize are 1:292 million. So, about equivalent to my chances of forming a romantic relationship with Taylor Swift.)
The money people waste playing Powerball and the other various gambling games hosted by the state-run Colorado Lottery is used by the state government to fund recreational projects like parks and trails and so forth, through Great Outdoors Colorado, Conservation Trust Fund and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Without problem gamblers, our parks and trails would be in sad shape.
But I find it interesting that the Colorado Lottery is even concerned about problem gambling. That would be like Exxon Mobil being concerned about people buying too much gasoline. Problem gamblers are, like, the Lottery’s bread and butter.
I mean, if the Colorado Lottery didn’t exist, maybe we wouldn’t have so many people disrupting and damaging their families and vocational pursuits.
Maybe we need a “Problem Government Awareness Month”. In fact, since no one else seems interested, I’m personally going to declare March 2024 as “Problem Government Awareness Month.”
Encouraging people to lose money gambling is only the tip of the iceberg, in terms of Problem Government.
According to various websites also concerned about problem gambling, only about 10% of Colorado residents engage regularly (at least once a week) in playing Colorado Lottery games.
Noting that maybe 4% of the population suffers from severe or moderate problem gambling, we’re talking about a number equal to nearly half the people who waste their money at least once a week.
I wonder if Colorado Lottery has run those numbers? And if they have, do they feel even slightly guilty?
Everyone knows (but rarely talks about the fact) that the people wasting their money gambling in the Colorado ‘Lootery’ are low-income. When you’re low-income, apparently, the possibility of winning $1 million in a lottery is more enticing than when you’re a CEO earning $2 million a year.
So, generally speaking, our parks and trails are being funded by the lowest income people in Colorado.
ELECTIONS
november
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.