*rant*

Okay, this is totally retarded. I've long thought it was hypocritical to say that at 18 you are mature enough to sign legal documents, join the military and kill in the name of your government, buy a house, own a business, and vote, but are too immature to drink until you are 21. And now gamble.

What bullshit! There is no rational reason to set a different age for different responsibilities. Either you are mature enough to be an adult in all matters, or you are not. Cherry picking certain things and setting a different age is moronic. Explain to me why someone is too immature to drink until they are 21, but they are mature enough to vote and participate in choosing our government. Or join the army and kill Iraqis for George Bush (or die trying).

I'm sure that some well meaning person will come on here and quote studies that show that the brain isn't actually fully developed until a person is in their early 20s. Okay, fine. Then change all of it to 21 (or 25, or whatever age you think someone is truly "adult"). Find an age that we can all agree that a person is an "adult" and stick with it in all issues.

So no drinking till you're 21. And no gambling. What's next? No billiards till you're 21? But everything else is okay.

*end rant*

I disagree. I think it's perfectly reasonable to set different age limits for different rights and responsibilities of citizenship. You don't just magically become a 100% grownup one day. For most people, it never happens at all.

Personally, I think the minimum age for driving a motor vehicle should be raised to about 30.

But I absolutely agree that this gambling law is retarded. 18-21s are not the demographic of the problem gambler or even the apprentice problem gambler. Not in this state. And the law won't apply to the Indian casinos, which means it barely has any meaning at all. It's a non-issue and a time-waster.

Actually, there are plenty of studies that show that when it comes to gambling, the earlier the age of exposure the higher the risk of lifelong addiction, and that problem gambling rates are three times higher in teen gamblers than with adults. There is also measurable increase in both teen gambling and teen problem gambling.

As to the change not impact the tribes, that's simply not true. The bill does not specifically mention the tribes, but federal law grants tribes access to the same forms of gambling already legal in the state. Because the tribal compacts do not specifically give the tribes the right to admit 18 year-olds, they will be held to the same gambling age.

Furthermore, it's nearly moot, because the tribal compacts prohibit admission of minor where alchol is served. Of the 27 tribal casinos, only three currently have separate underage rooms. Likewise, almost all the commercial cardrooms have moved to 21-and-over after repeated violations of the state gambling and alcohol laws.

SDA IN SEATTLE WROTE:
"Okay, this is totally retarded. I've long thought it was hypocritical to say that at 18 you are mature enough to sign legal documents, join the military and kill in the name of your government, buy a house, own a business, and vote, but are too immature to drink until you are 21. And now gamble."

COMMENT:
Fair points. When I was a tween, it also pissed me off that movie theaters charged adult ticket prices when a kid turns 12 years old, yet don't technically let him attend R-rated movies until he turns 17 years old.

Tribal casinos are not subject to ANY US or state laws. See today's Salon article about the women who tried to sue a casino company in California for sexual harrassment only to find out that you CAN'T sue a tribal casino for ANY reason, and sexual harrassment and even rape are LEGAL in Indian casinos, as long as the Indians don't want to follow up on it.

That woman's justification to nanny the gambling age up to 21 doesn't wash. Read the entire article. She is a total Shiela Brozlowski case: jumping off the deep end and trying to legislate her problems away with laws that don't help anyone, and wrongfully bar others.

Lottery tickets are technically a form of gambling, but they do nothing to promote the gambling she's thinking of (casino gambling). Ever get a scratch card free with your groceries or something? It's kinda the same thing, except with the lottery cards, you pay for them. It's inoffensive and twenty seconds of fun if you give one to your kid, not an endorsement to waste your life savings in a casino.

And kids gambling amongst each other, gambling on internet websites (where you can lie about your age) or betting on sports in school has always been an epidemic in colleges in all 50 states, with or without lagalized gambling. Raising the legal gambling age does nothing to solve the problem.

This is the worst part. From her website:

My son Ben gambled on his life –and lost. The police report said he died in an auto accident due to mechanical failure. But that is only part of the story that led to his death at just 29 years old.

Ben was obsessed with gambling. He had attended and successfully completed a gambling rehabilitation program. But the program could not repair the six years of financial devastation caused by his addiction. He spent his money at the blackjack table instead of on the essentials of life, car maintenance.

Don't even get me started. I think her tragic loss has clouded her thinking and this is mostly the result of her looking for someone to blame.

I'm going on record: Jennifer McCausland is jumping off the deep end and should take that website down until she calms down and starts thinking straight. Her actions are misfocused and not solving the problem.

Here's how you educate kids: in your training and therapy, emphasize the fact that casinos make billions every year because the odds are ALWAYS in favor of the house (casino). Even the vast majority of educated players end up on the losing end. It's not a moneymaking enterprise to be a gambler. Having grown up in Las Vegas and with both parents working over two decades each in the industry, I think I know what I'm talking about.

EDIT: The paragraph after the italics paragraph should have had italics as well, as it's quoted from the website. Everything after is my own words.