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you_give_me_coupon t1_iza2ftc wrote

Awesome. Let's make it easier for people to do something addictive and viciously corrosive to individual lives, families, and functional communities!

Fuck, if we need tax money, there are tons of better ways to get it. Soak rich people, soak third home owners, soak tourists, expropriate investment properties, whatever.

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cesare980 t1_izaa7k2 wrote

Booze is addictive and viciously corrosive etc etc. You want to make that illegal too?

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ZhugeTsuki t1_izayood wrote

No, but I feel like theres a lot more resources for alcoholics than for people with a gambling addiction. Neither of the things should be illegal, but they should be regulated to minimize harm to the public and the individual.

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scottjergenson t1_izaedy4 wrote

100% this. It would be nice if at least some of the tax revenue from this would go toward combatting the opioid crisis (I know it won’t/wouldn’t just trying to be optimistic).

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HeadPen5724 t1_izbwlzs wrote

Addressing the opiate crisis wasnt even on Kronoskis top agenda items for the coming vetoproof legislative session.

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you_give_me_coupon t1_izcp8wd wrote

That would be fine with me, but it's a moot point since the cat's a few light years out of the bag. Gambling is something we still have a choice about. Is it something people should do? Is it something the state government should make easier?

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huskers2468 t1_izakihm wrote

There are so many things that you can point to and say, "that is dangerous to a subset of the population, so we should ban it for the rest."

A few things that are pretty clear for non-complex manufacturing items: prohibition does not work, and promoting abstinence does not work.

Trying to abolish something that can be as easily done as sports betting, just causes it to go underground. Those who are addicted will have no protections, they will be able to gamble more than they have, and they will be owing money to potentially dangerous individuals. In a legalized system, you at the very least have to transfer funds in, and that is a very helpful barrier.

Legalize it, educate the public, and treat those with addiction.

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you_give_me_coupon t1_izcqqyb wrote

> Trying to abolish something that can be as easily done as sports betting, just causes it to go underground. Those who are addicted will have no protections, they will be able to gamble more than they have, and they will be owing money to potentially dangerous individuals. In a legalized system, you at the very least have to transfer funds in, and that is a very helpful barrier.

This is the same argument that's currently en vogue regarding prostitution. But unsurprisingly, in the countries with legal prostitution, even rich, liberal democracies like Germany, none of the promised protections have arrived, and none of the dangerous people have gone away. Most prostitutes in German brothels are trafficked from poor countries and exploited by pimps, for example. It's tough to imagine it would be any different with gambling. Organized crime already runs the casinos.

One of the greatest tricks of the lower-case-l-liberal ruling class is lowering the bar for evaluating anything to mere consent. We're only allowed to consider if something is allowed, we're never supposed to ask if that thing is something anyone should be doing, and we're never supposed to ask if doing that thing is intrinsically harmful, whether or not anyone consented.

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huskers2468 t1_izczk8e wrote

Alcohol prohibition is the best example, and it has decades of time to back it up. Alcohol is not "intrinsically healthy." Alcohol is similar to gambling on many terms.

There aren't many underground distilleries or alcohol smuggling operations. Using the open market for purchasing is a much better option than skirting the law. I would say that it was a success, albeit with the known negatives, but it's better than it was.

Your prostitution example is still new, it's going to take time to adjust. Are you saying that the organized crime today at casinos is just as bad as it was? I'd have to see some statistics on that.

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5teerPike t1_iza3dq4 wrote

Just taking as much time as possible to let people open dispensaries, which can be a taxation goldmine.

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HeadPen5724 t1_izbwhbo wrote

So your against safe injection sites?

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you_give_me_coupon t1_izcptge wrote

No, I'm not. I think all drugs should be legal to use, but doing so should be shameful, and to the extent possible, humiliating. The sites in Europe where you have to shoot up in a structure with transparent walls are a start, but we should go much farther. Drug dealers should be given the choice of the death penalty or a lifetime of hard labor. Basically the goal for drug use, particular IV drug use and opiods, should be "safe, legal, and rare".

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HeadPen5724 t1_izds0rq wrote

Got it. Betting is addictive and bad for families and society, but heroin is ok 👍🏽.

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