Stop Predatory Gambling

Protect and serve is now the responsibility of Florida grocery clerks

by spgadmin

In yet another example of how extreme our nation has become in promoting state-sponsored predatory gambling, the Florida Lottery is installing free standing lottery scratch ticket machines and will put the responsibility of preventing children from buying the tickets on the shoulders of grocery clerks.

According to the Miami Herald:

“Though the new lottery machines might look similar to those that dispense soda and candy bars, the state says it will make sure children – a key consumer for those other machines – stay away from lottery games.

By law, lottery players must be at least 18 to purchase scratch-off games. Florida’s new vending machines will come equipped with a remote control switch that allows store clerks to shut off the machine if a minor attempts to use it.”

It’s stunning when you stop to think about it. One of the primary functions of government is to protect the public – “to protect and serve.” Yet the Lottery flips that mission on its head. Here Florida is requiring a grocery clerk to protect the public from a product that is being promoted and sold by government.

These new scratch ticket vending machines should be pulled from the supermarkets immediately and moved to another location- right next to the old cigarette vending machines rusting away at the city dump.