The Lottery: A Losing Proposition

Lottery Can Be First Step To Addiction

(CBS)  With a $295 million payoff at stake in Saturday's Powerball lottery, prospective winners flocked to their local convenience stores for a chance to become an instant multi-millionaire. The one thing that didn't seem on their minds was their likelihood of losing.

The odds of winning the Powerball lottery are more than 80 million to one, a fact that seems lost on most lottery players. A survey taken last year by the consumer group Consumer Federation of America shows over a quarter of Americans believe the lottery is their best chance at gaining wealth in their lifetime.

"Many don't fully appreciate the odds against their winning the lottery," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. "Some are not aware of the opportunities for even moderate-income families to save and build wealth."

Opponents of state-sanctioned lotteries believe the problem is much deeper. The deputy director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey calls the lottery a national addiction.

"It's culturally OK and socially acceptable to play the lottery," said Kevin O'Neill, adding that near-wins are "instant reinforcement" to continue playing.

The council's hotline, which is printed on the back of New Jersey lottery tickets, receives about 10,000 calls a year from compulsive gamblers. O'Neill said lotteries are second only to casinos in terms of the number of gambling addicts who call in: 54 percent report a compulsion to play the lottery.

Minister Tom Grey, head of the Illinois-based National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, sees the lottery as a first step to addiction, citing a study showing 5 percent of lottery players buy 41 percent of the tickets. "A lot of compulsive gamblers get their start playing the lottery. You have to be 21 years old to get into a casino, to play some lotteries the age limit is 18," said Grey.

Earmarking lottery earnings to fund public school systems has aided their acceptance by the public, but in most cases the revenue goes to the state's general fund. The revenue totals are then used as a guideline for education spending. Grey's home state of Illinois has had a lottery for 20 years. "Education spending is no better off after 20 years of the lottery than before," he notes.

Grey hopes to see recognition of the ill effects from gambling calculated into lottery revenues. Compulsive gambling is a disease, said Grey, and the states are going to have to face the costs of treating it.