The Lottery's Darker Side

"You might be the next winner of ... A MILLION DOLLARS!!"

With a tempting carrot like this dangling in front of us, and perhaps knowing of someone locally who won a bundle from playing, we find ourselves standing in line at our local convenience stores, dollars in hand to eagerly purchase a ticket for the next lottery.

There's no question that lotteries of any sort, whether they be small "scratch-off" (also known as "instant-win") cards, Pick-Fours or SuperLottos, have universal appeal; after all, who wouldn't want to be instantly rich? Sure, we really know our chances of winning are slim, but that possibility's countered by knowing that it still could happen. Besides, the money we spend goes to building roads, strengthening our schools or some other local concern, right?

In actuality, only about thirty-five percent of the lottery receipts go toward those endeavors. The rest is used to pay lottery staff, provide commissions to businesses -- and, of course, dole out winning proceeds to the lucky winner.

Despite those numbers, people continue to play with the hope that they'll be the next "lucky" ones. Some of the buyers are those who can afford the few dollars, and know when to stop. They're the ones who learned an important principle as they settled into a decent business or married and began raising families; when purchasing anything, moderation is the key.

But there are millions of others around the nation -- those who have a hard time keeping a roof over their heads, are behind on their bills and are often seeking help from crisis assistance ministries -- to whom the games have become a dangerous addiction.

The reason they become "hooked" on this social narcotic is that they're looking for a way out of their continuous financial and environmental woes. At best, they work at minimum-wage jobs or subsist on a government check that's never enough, and the lottery gives them the dream of finally breaking away from their circumstances and "live the good life" as so many others do.