We have written time and again about how the Arkansas Lottery continues to try to prop up sales by constantly rolling out new scratch-off tickets.
Scratch-off tickets are controversial, because they are tied to problem gambling and gambling addiction.
A 2015 study in Canada described them as “paper slot machines.”
A 2018 study published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions found a link between how often a person played scratch-off tickets and the severity of a person’s gambling problem.
Since mid-April, the Arkansas Lottery has unveiled five new scratch-off tickets — some of which cost as much as $10 each.
These types of scratch-off tickets prey on the poor and desperate by offering long odds on big jackpots.
In April, net sales for instant lottery tickets — such as scratch-off tickets — jumped after COVID-19 stimulus checks began arriving in Arkansas.
Despite all of this, the Arkansas Lottery still relies very heavily on scratch-off tickets.
When all is said and done, the vast majority of the money from the Arkansas Lottery’s scratch-off tickets pays for prizes for lottery players.
As long as the Arkansas Lottery continues to operate this way, it will keep on preying on the poor and desperate, and the Lottery’s scholarship funding will remain dismal.
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