Massachusetts says online casinos should be illegal

We have been hearing a lot about the legalities of gambling and casinos in the USA but Massachusetts seems to be in a bit of a quandary about which way it wants to go. Firstly there is a move by the current Governor to pass a gambling bill and build land based casinos within the state that they claim will provide employment and of course income for the state in taxes but on the other side there are those who are organizing petitions  for a statewide boycott of casinos and slot machines claiming that they actually cost jobs. This is based on the premise that if money is spent on gambling then it is not being spent in other areas of the local economy which would create more jobs. The leader of the petition went on to say “Rushing a gambling bill through without a public hearing and without a full assessment of its negative impacts is an abdication of legislative responsibility. If the Governor and the Speaker succeed, we will be suffering casino blight for decades. It’s time for people to sign up in support of a better approach. We can have secure green jobs that don’t depend on exploiting people’s addictions and which won’t disappear when the price of gasoline shoots up. We deserve a better future than the one being offered us by the gambling industry lobbyists”

The strange thing about this particular piece of legislation is that it is also proposed to make online gambling a criminal activity carrying a sentence of up to 2 years in prison and $25000 in fines. So then we shall have a situation where you can spend as much as you like gambling in a casino but if you want to gamble in the comfort of your own home you are committing a crime. This might be great for the finances of the state but hardly fair for the residents who will be barred from better odds, more choice of games and higher payout percentages. Will the law get passed? Who knows.