Legalization of Gambling in Ohio Essay -- Papers

Legalization of Gambling in Ohio The words Casinos and Gambling are often associated with gangsters, prostitution, murderers, and all the illegal operations one could think of. Those kinds of stereotypes are picked up in movies like ?Casino? and the countless other gangster and casino related movies that are based in the 50?s, 60?s, and 70?s, but that was then and this is now. ?While there may be some vestigial ties between organized crime and casinos, gambling is now big business? (Weissman 1). ?The term gambling or ?gaming? as the industry calls it, means any legalized form of wagering or betting conducted in a casino, on a riverboat, on an Indian reservation, or at any other location under the jurisdiction of the United States? (National Gambling Impact Study Commission Act). The hobby of gambling is a part of most people lives. Casual bets on the Bulls and Knicks game or a weekend poker game at your buddies house are both forms of gambling. Gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry and Amy J. Seifert said in her article The Stakes that ?gambling has become one of the nation?s fastest growing industries? (Seifert 2). Ohio can get a piece of that if they legalize all forms of gambling. Gambling, like baseball, is a national pastime. Gambling is deeply imbedded in the history of United States. Many settlers in Jamestown had their passageway paid for by the sale of lottery tickets. The revolutionary army was funded by lottery tickets also--Gen. George Washington bought the first one. In the 18th Century, buildings at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were financed by lotteries (History of Gambling...1). Many people of the 1800?s wouldn?t be caught dead without a deck... ...st. [Online] Available http://www.laketahoe.com/About/Gamhist.htm, February 26, 2007. Kolasky, Bob. Issue of the Week: Fighting Long Odds. [Online] Available http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/97/0911/icissue.asp, February 22, 2007 NATIONAL GAMBLING IMPACT STUDY COMMISSION ACT. [Online] Available http://www.ngisc.gov/c-law.html, February 20, 2007 ?Neon Night in Las Vegas.? Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM, 2005. Official Report of Votes for Statewide Issue 1. [Online] Available http://www.state.oh.us/sos/dpatlarg.html, March 1, 2007 Seifert, Amy J. The stakes. [Online] Available http://www.churchstreetumc. org/ present2.html, February 28, 2007. Weissman, Robert. A BAD BET Casino Economics and the Politics of Gambling [Online] Available http://prince.essential.org/monitor/hyper/mm1196.04. html, February 10, 2007.