Green Light in Maryland

Now that Maryland has officially green lit slot machines in the state, the next step is to ultimately map out the logistics. How many machines, where they should go, and how that will be decided, are all questions that must be answered before action can be taken. The citizens of Maryland voted for five locations to start off with, that would bring in a total of 15 thousand machines. It is probably a major sign of the current economy’s dismal state, that more and more states are jumping on the slot machine bandwagon.

Slot machines and other gambling programs are basically geared toward making money back for the people, since gamblers pump money into the activity, which then is redirected into public programs like education and community enrichment. Several state’s budgets have been hurting for a while now, since people are out of jobs and holding onto their money. The only way that people will be more inclined to spend money (and jump start the economy) is if there is a chance for them to make that money back immediately.

One group that is adamantly pushing the issue is Maryland For Our Future which is a slots advocacy group that is convincing people that slot machines have this positive power.

Still, there are those who oppose slots on the grounds that they are convinced that gambling activity only brings negative results to the community, from addiction, to debt, to a general bad influence on the youth that are exposed to the activity.

Back to January 2009 Archive.