I was certainly not surprised to see the feature article about the lottery referendum on the front page of the Oct. 11 Pacer.
However, a feature article should include both sides of an issue.

The article as written should have been on page two, since it was nothing less than an editorial endorsement of one side of the issue.

I would like for Pacer readers to consider just a few concerns I have about the lottery. Any one of the following reasons would be sufficient for me to vote “NO” on this issue on Nov. 5.

Probably the biggest lie of the lottery industry is that the lottery is a person's ticket out of poverty.

Indeed, marketing to the poor is a key strategy of the industry, as shown by marketing programs that revolve around the time of welfare and social security payments.

A 1998 Georgia State University survey found that Georgia families earning less than $25,000 per year spend two to three times as much on the lottery as a percentage of their income than households earning $50,000 or more.

I consider it morally unacceptable to intentionally raise money for any public cause by targeting those who are least able to pay!

Gambling is an addictive behavior that precipitates bankruptcies, ruins careers, destroys marriages, devastates families, and produces an inordinately high percentage of suicides.

And sadly, minors are easy prey to the gambling industry through the lottery.

In Massachusetts, 47.1% of seventh graders and 74.6% of high school seniors have managed to purchase lottery tickets.

In 1996 (after the first four years of the lottery) the Georgia Department of Human Services estimated that perhaps as many as 17,700 teens had become addicted to gambling.

How could I consider it ethical to vote for a system that injures so many lives?

Further, there seems to be wide-spread misunderstanding regarding how lottery proceeds will be used. Education in Tennessee will not benefit from the lottery.

The legislation to be voted on next month will NOT provide any funds for K-12 education, and it will NOT help the state budget deficit.

Until the state budget deficit is addressed by the legislature, higher education will NOT receive increased funding.
According to Money Magazine (1996), lottery states, on average, collect more taxes and spend less on their schools than non-lottery states.

And lottery tickets are not even subject to sales tax!

The gambling industry is a predatory industry that should not be a part of the state we proudly call the Volunteer State!

I pray that the citizens of Tennessee will not become prey!

Anthony Harmon is a professor of Chemistry.