Gambling has a zero-sum economic effect in its market and, like legalizing cocaine, the socio-economic costs of legalizing gambling overwhelm the benefits

Besides creating more compulsive gamblers, money spent on lotteries isn't spent on other goods such as clothing or computers, which would trickle through to retailers, manufacturers and other parts of the economy

Sociologists almost uniformly report that increased gambling activities, which are promoted as sociologically 'acceptable' and which are made 'accessible' to larger numbers of people will increase the number of pathological gamblers

A study in Illinois in the mid-1990s found that 65 percent of businesses were hurt by the proximity of gambling

Bankruptcies increase 18 percent to 42 percent above the national average

Another threat to stability is the rise of Internet gambling

Gambling is a catalyst for economic downturn