I've always supported legalizing a lottery in Alabama, but I am having some second thoughts after reading a story in the NewYorker:
“Americans spend more on lottery tickets every year than on cigarettes, coffee, or smartphones,” Cohen writes, “and they spend more on lottery tickets annually than on video streaming services, concert tickets, books, and movie tickets combined.”
The story correctly identifies Alabama as one of the few states without a state lottery. And it points out where, in states with legal lotteries, the games are promoted:
"As with all commercial products, lottery sales also increase with exposure to advertising—and lottery products are most heavily promoted in neighborhoods that are disproportionately poor, Black, or Latino. In Texas, where the minimum wage is $7.25, you can buy a fifty-dollar scratch-off ticket at a check-cashing venue or pick up Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, like Snickers bars, while paying for groceries at a Dollar General."
A good read, for sure.
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