Gambling Should Be Banned in Australia - Essay Example

Gambling should be banned in Australia Introduction Gambling is an act that involves betting something of value by either placing money or its equivalent with a hope of winning or getting more returns than what was initially placed as a bet. Some of the examples of gambling in Australia include raffles, lotteries, scratch tickets, casino, stock market, sports betting, bingo, racing, card games, internet gambling and the gaming machines (pokies) (Healy, 2001). The pokies are the most popular form of gambling in Australia. There is a lot of uncertainty in gambling as the whole activity is based on speculation and luck. At time it is entirely based on chance. Gambling is a vice that should not be encouraged in Australia. All the negative aspects of gambling and its contribution to the ills of the society emphasize the stand that gambling should truly be banned in Australia. Many gamblers have messed up their families and relationships as a result of gambling. This happens mostly when gamblers lose their money and other valuables that would have been used for the family upkeep. In gambling there is a chance of winning or losing (Fabiansson, 2010). But according to statistics those who lose are more than those who win. Another controversy with gambling is that when one wins there must be somebody who has lost and so it means one man’s win is another person’s loss. The habit of gambling is so rampant in Australia such that over 80% of all the Australian adults gamble. Out of this, 40% of them gamble at least once a week or more. It is also reported that the figures of the young people who are under eighteen years and gamble, have been on the increase. According to a report published by Victorian Casino & Gambling Authority the total Victorian losses in 2003/2004 were estimated to be $4.3billion (Dickerson & O’Connor, 2006). Out of this amount, $ 2,290 million was on poker machines while $963 million was at the casino. Sports betting and lotteries accounted for losses of $ 578 million and $436 million respectively. It is reported that around 2.1% of all adult Australians have a gambling problem and this translates to around 290,000 people (Derevensky & Gupta, 2004). Out of all the money lost through gambling, one third of it is lots by the people with gambling problem. Each gambler is said to affect from five up to ten other people when losses occur. In Australia there are instances that have been reported in the past where a man gambles all his wealth and ends up being extremely poor to a state of failing to take care of his family. Some of the cases of gambling have resulted to the gamblers involved committing suicide and therefore leaving more problems to the people left behind especially if such a person was a breadwinner in the family. The addictive nature of gambling makes the gamblers to always think on where they can get the next poking machine (McMillen, 1996). The urge to win or recover from a previous loss is what makes an individual to be addicted to gambling. The problem with addiction is that one can miss very important meeting so as to attend to gambling. It reaches a point where one thinks of how to gamble whenever he gets money or other assets that can be used for gambling. Gambling also makes a person to lose friends as one tends to relate to the gamblers only. Besides losing friends, many people have also lost their business as a result of placing them as a bet in gambling. It is common to see somebody in Australia who places all the wealth gained from a business venture in a poker machine (Orford, 2003). The result is quite devastating as he loses all the money that had probably taken so many years to accumulate from business savings. Such people end up being disappointed and stressed up especially when they realize they have lost their source of income. Many gamblers live lives of regrets with some swearing never to gamble after they lose a considerable amount of money in the practice. But this in most time is just a lip service because when they acquire more money through other means, they eventually take it to gambling only to lose it and result to regrets again. Gambling may also affect the work of an individual. Those who are addicted to gambling dedicate most of their time to the gambling at the expense of their employment (Williams, 2003). There are even instances where people sneak from their places of work to visit pokies. This might get worse when they miss work so as to attend to gambling and this eventually leads to losing their jobs and source of living. Many people have also dropped out from their studies due to gambling. This could partly be attributed to the time they spend in gambling instead of being in their places of studies, or by spending or their resources on gambling at the expense of their studies. May be this is why studies have shown that most of he gamblers are either uneducated or school dropouts. Those who oppose that gambling should not be banned in Australia argue that it is a form of enjoyment for the recreational gamblers. But this argument does not hold water as how would one enjoy by losing money (Meyer & Griffiths, 2008). Studies have also indicated that those who become addicts in gambling or chronic gamblers start by being recreational gamblers and therefore gambling should not be entertained as a form of recreation. Gambling is also said to contribute to the taxes collected by the government but what should be understood is that the taxes collected are from those who lose. In my own opinion the only positive aspect about gambling is that it provides employment to those who work in gambling outlets such as casinos and poking machines. It also promotes tourism in a way although a tourist might be compelled never to go back to Australia after losing substantial amount of money in gambling. Conclusion It is also argued that if gambling is banned in Australia it will lead to illegal gambling which might be more rampant (Shaffer, 2003). I think that the issue of illegal gambling can be addressed through the introduction of firm policies and regulations with strict punishments given to the offenders. There are still other people who support gambling arguing that is an Australian culture that should be maintained. This kind of thinking is retrogressive as culture should strive to uphold norms and virtues and should benefit the society at large. Gambling as it is, has contributed to unemployment, breaking of families and relationships, school drop outs, depression, and loss of finances. Gambling is therefore a habit that should be banned in Australia so that the money spent in it can be directed to other economic activities that can be more beneficial to all the Australians. References Derevensky, J., & Gupta, R. (2004). Gambling problems in youth: theoretical and applied perspectives. New York: Springer. Dickerson, M., & O’Connor, J. (2006). Gambling as an addictive behaviour: impaired control, harm minimization. London: Cambridge University Press. Fabiansson, C. (2010). Pathways to Excessive Gambling: A Societal Perspective on Youth and Adult. New York: Ashgate Publishing. Healy, J. (2001). Gambling in Australia. Melbourne: Routledge. McMillen, J. (1996). Gambling cultures: studies in history and interpretation. London: Routledge. Meyer, G., & Griffiths, M. (2008). Problem gambling in Europe: challenges, prevention, and interventions. Melbourne: Springer. Orford, J. (2003). Gambling and problem gambling in Britain. London: Oxford. Shaffer, H. (2003). Futures at stake: youth, gambling, and society. Nevada: University of Nevada Press. Williams, L. (2003). The economics of gambling. New York: Routledge. Read More