Our hearts and minds are shaped not only by reason but also by our habits, which are just as often inexplicably self-destructive as they are reasonable.
“The cause of a gambling problem is the individual’s inability to control the gambling.” So says the National Council on Problem Gambling, an organization funded by the gambling industry to help people who have become addicted to its products. This attitude—that anyone who falls into gambling addiction has only themselves to blame—has allowed state lawmakers to ignore arguments that more access to gambling might make it easier for people to lose control. Since the Supreme Court struck down previous restrictions on sports betting in 2018, 36 states have legalized it (26 of which allow mobile betting), and new ballot initiatives are proposed every year. If you’ve watched a sporting event lately, you’ve been bombarded with ads for online sports gambling—and this weekend’s Super Bowl will be no exception.
Similarly, when marijuana legalization is debated, supporters emphasize how the responsible use of marijuana might alleviate the pain of those suffering from incurable diseases. They also point to the worst excesses of the War on Drugs, which disproportionately affect Black people, though are fortunately getting rarer. This argument has been successful: Only four states still prohibit all uses of marijuana. In 19 states, the recreational use of marijuana is now fully legal; all other states allow medicinal use of cannabis products.

Theatlantic

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