Teenage Gambling and Addiction
Gambling today is all around us. From the local lottery to
football pools at work, gambling has become as much a part of
our lives as shopping or eating with the family. But for
millions of teens it may develop into so much more than the
occasional bet with friends. It can become an obsession, a way
of life. The problem of gambling compulsively is a crippling
illness that can destroy families, friends, jobs, and lives.
Many history books specializing in the study of the legal
aspects of gambling, argue that gambling in the United States
has gone through three historical phases. Gambling thrived
during the colonial and post revolutionary periods. Governments
supported and encouraged lotteries. Lotteries however were not
the only type of gambling during this time. Wagering on horse
racing was another popular form of gambling. Racing though was
not quite as organized or as complex as modern day horse racing.
Instead the gambling was only between a few owners of horses and
their partisans. The first racetrack in the United States was
built in Long Island, New York in 1665.
With the end of Jacksonian morality, came the end of the first
phase, gambling
scandals and outright fraud caused the ban of lotteries and
gambling. By 1862, all states expect Kentucky and Missouri
outlawed lotteries. The second phase began after the civil war.
Southern states that were desperate for revenue turned to
lotteries. New laws were enacted legalizing gambling houses so
that states could collect taxes on them. As gambling moved west
it became more pervasive, and laws were much more difficult to
enforce. In the 1890s scandals in the Louisiana lottery resulted
in new anti-lottery laws.
Legislation banning lotteries in many states soon followed, some
were even written into the State Constitution.
The second wave of legal gambling was short-lived. Scandals and
the rise of Victorian morality led to the end of legal gambling.
Virtually all forms of gambling were prohibited in the United
States by 1910. There was legal betting in only 3 states, which
allowed horse racing, but even that number shrank in years
following.
The thoughts about gambling ran so strong that Arizona and New
Mexico were required to outlaw casinos to gain statehood. The
prohibition however did not stop gambling. There were many types
of illegal gambling houses. Some operated openly for many years,
but had to pay protection money to the law enforcement
authorities for this privilege. The third and present phase
began during the great depression of the 1930's. The great
depression led to a much greater legalization of gambling. The
antigambling mood changed as major financial problems gripped
the country, especially after the stock market crash of 1929.
This societal problem, like teenage smoking, drinking and drug
abuse, is yet one more area we will need to give attention to.
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