Prohibition
Up front, I am pretty much in favor of legalizing things that you can’t control. Using marijuana, for example, should be legalized (and sales controlled) nationwide. Whatever you think of using the drug, making it against the law didn’t work. That ship sailed. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 48.2 million Americans used marijuana at least once in 2019, over 18% of the population. The lessons of Prohibition learned in the 1920’s apply today – by making marijuana illegal we are creating a black market for drug sales.
And sure, there are people who abuse marijuana – there’s even a term for it; “marijuana use disorder”. They carefully don’t call it “addiction”, though there are people who seem to be unable to function without the drug.
America has been addicted to alcohol, legally, since 1934. 70% of Americans had at least one drink last year; that’s more than 200 million people. And while there are estimated to be 15 million alcoholics, we recognize that banning alcohol didn’t work. Banning marijuana doesn’t either.
Federalism
Legalization is happening, in all of the “glory” of our Federal system. Twenty-one states have made recreational use of marijuana legal. You can drive down the streets and see the green leafed “dope stores”, almost as many as beer stores in California and Colorado. Like alcohol, the state gets a cut of the sales. Another sixteen states, including Ohio, legalized “medical” marijuana. With a prescription, you can get a state “Marijuana Card”, and then legally purchase the drug. The prescription, available online, runs about $150, and the registration card another $50. For a little fibbing and $200 a year, you can be a legal Ohio medical marijuana user, along with 323,000 of your fellow citizens (Ohio).
So when Ohio legalized gambling as of January 1st, I figured it was an all-around good thing. Gambling used to be “back door”. It was legal at the horse races, but otherwise against the law. You could go and place a bet on a filly to win-place-or-show at Scioto Downs. But you couldn’t lay a legal bet on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. Serious gamblers found illegal places; the backroom poker game or a bookie at the end of the bar.
Place Your Bet
Ohioans like to bet on anything. Back “in the day”, when the state track meet was in the Horseshoe at Ohio State, you could even bet on the kids’ races. Just take a seat in the top row near the finish line, and wait. Soon you’d hear how much someone was willing to put on the kid in lane six of the 100 meter dash. Someone would take the bet, and the money passed down the row. It was always out there, but it was not very visible.
Oh, and then there was BINGO!! Bingo itself wasn’t particularly gambling – but a part of any good bingo game was instant ticket sales, with great names like “Better than Sex”. As a bingo caller (“A – 4”) I had to identify what instant game was “on the floor”. So I’d call out: “Better than Sex is now on the floor”, followed by “…but you know, there’s really nothing better than sex on the floor”. The audience of mostly older ladies reached in their bras, pulled out their cash, and ate those tickets up.
Get Our Share
And then Ohio built casinos throughout the state. Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati all got a casino site. Part of the reason: Ohioans were casino gamblers, and they were going in masses to Indiana, West Virginia and Michigan to play. The State legislature figured they were missing a lot of tax revenue, so why not “dip in” and get Ohio’s share.
So while good-old strait-laced Ohio was against gambling, we were on the slippery slope. And as of January 1st 2023, we are now an open-gambling paradise. You can pull out your cell phone, or go to a “sports bar”, and bet on any game you want, legally. In fact, you can bet on the game, or the quarter, or whether Taylor will return a punt for a touchdown or Higgins will catch the next pass. You can watch the game not to see the Bengals shock the Bills, but as an ongoing investment, you against the world, betting the yardage and the play.
Bet at Home
Every Ohioan now has a “sports-book” in his or her pocket. But what I really wasn’t ready for was the onslaught of television ads. Bet the first $5, and they’ll give you $200 more to bet with. Talk about the “pusher-man” hanging out by the playground with “free samples”. The sports-book guys are in your living room, and impatiently waiting in your pocket. They’ll get their $200 back and more.
It almost “un-Buckeyean” to not bet. Speaking of the “Buckeyes”, there was vast disappointment when they lost on a missed field goal to Georgia on December 31st. Ohioans couldn’t legally bet (probably put $10 down on miss left or right) and were desperate for the team to win. The Championship game was after midnight – putting money on the “Buckeyes” legally on your own phone – the real test of any fan of THE Ohio State University football team.
Gambling is legal, but it’s definitely scary. The pressure is intense. I’m not a gambler, but even I feel “left out” when I see all those TV ads. It’s only a couple of taps on the phone. But I’m holding off – I don’t want someone else to “hold my beer” while I play!
