Here in MA, the state lottery is huge-it brings in over $3 billion/year in revenue. the state regularly publishes the lists (by town) of how much is taken in, and how much is paid out (to the towns). One thing is very notieable: rich towns (like Newton/Andover) get back far more than their residents contribute; for very poor towns (like Lawrence) the reverse is true. On a per capita basis, it is even more striking-a poor person (who is much more likely to be on some form of public assistance) spends much more on the lottery, than a rich resident. So, are these lotteries mainly a way to recover public assistance funds? Face it, if a poor person is spending his money on scratch tickets, that means he really didn’t need that money in the first place-so the lottery serves the function of returning the money to the treasury.
In any event, the government never has enough money-the new governor is trying to add casino gambling (in an effort to suck more money away from the poor). Atr lotteries a moral way to do this? 
Ermm . . . no, it doesn’t, ralph.
I would say it’s moral. Nobody is forcing poor people to play the lottery or gamble at a casino. They’re grown-ups, and part of the responsibility involved in being a grown-up is deciding how you’re going to spend money.
I agree with Anne. There’s a limit to the extent to which a government can protect people from their own bad choices.
I do think that it’s unjust for governments to outlaw private gambling institutions with a house edge around 10% in favor of state-run gambling with a house edge around 50%.
Quibble: a house edge of 5% is sufficient for the wildest dreams of gluttonous avarice.
I live in Massachusetts and I think it is disgusting what Massachusetts does with scratch tickets in particular. They know who is playing and it isn’t the former presidents of the high school match club. I don’t really care who gets the money or doesn’t because it is all wrong. “Rewarding” the citizens of Lawrence when their citizens are stupid enough to play a disproportionate amount of those games doesn’t break down logically at all. The state just took about half of poor people’s money and handed it back as a gift.
I am not opposed to gambling at all. I am opposed to government monopolies on gambling that steal with one hand and then offer “free” handjobs with the other.
I agree-the state should NOT be fleecing its citizens-especially when the money collected is supposed to go towards education (which ought to include mathematics education-and teaching people the concept of odds). face it: the states have created a system of taxation (upon the stupid), which they have dressed up under the fiction that the profits are for helping the most needy (whose welfare is in fact undermined by these scam-lotteries). of course, these scams are presented as being more noble than casinos, which (as has been pointed out) provide much better odds, and much better payouts. Government at its worst!
I agree the state is hypocritical by running a lottery while at the same time prohibiting other gambling. However, it is incorrect to say that lotteries are a “tax.” Taxes are mandatory; lotteries are optional. No one is forced to play the lottery. You don’t have to be stupid to play it. You can buy a lottery ticket knowing full well the odds are stacked against you and not be an idiot. You are only an idiot if you are spending money on lottery tickets that should otherwise to go towards paying rent, groceries, etc.
The only thing I see wrong with it if the same people are receiving welfare from the state and buying the lottery tickets is that it’s economically inefficient - we are basically paying people to provide free entertainment for the lottery buyers, in a macroeconomic sense. The convenience store workers and lottery officials could have been more productive doing something else.
I’ve seen people cash their welfare checks and go straight to buy lottery tickets.
One of the most amazing tirades I’ve ever heard was a welfare receiptent cussing out a first time lottery winner who won the big jackpot. “It’s not fair. I play every week and I’ve never won anything. She buys one ticket and is a millonaire. It’s not fair.”