Dubble Standards in Lotteries versus Booze

Great post Andrew Biggs of AEI.

"How do you think the political class would respond if a beverage company made an alcoholic drink that tasted like bubble gum? And even had a scratch-and-sniff to lure the kids in? If the debate over Pabst Brewing’s new drink “Blast” is anything to judge by, attorney generals across the country would be up in arms. Blast is a 24-ounce fruit-flavored concoction with all the alcohol of roughly five cans of beer, and is endorsed by the elder statesman of rap, Snoop Dogg. Almost 20 attorney generals across the country are urging Pabst to withdraw Blast, calling it a “binge in a can” that targets youth. Which may well be true, for all I know. (For those interested in this segment of the alcoholic beverages market, I heartily recommend BumWine.com.)

But back to bubble gum-flavored booze. Or, well, it’s not booze exactly. In fact, it’s the District of Columbia’s new scratch-off lottery game, “Dubble Bubble,” which I saw advertised on the Metro. (Yes, “Dubble”—this is D.C., after all, where nothing makes sense.) Posters feature a young gentleman blowing a bubble, on which is written “Win up to $50,000.” And yes, the tickets do have a bubble-scented scratch-and-sniff feature.

On one hand, lotteries have something to say for them; after all, they’re the only tax that people line up to pay. On the other hand, it’s one thing for private casinos to lure gamblers in with inane gaming themes. At least casinos give a decent payoff. Having government hook people on games of chance with terrible odds is another thing altogether.

But all I can point out is the double—I mean, Dubble—standard. Research indicates that low-income households may spend over 3 percent of their income on scratch-off lottery tickets and that lotteries may be relatively addictive. That’s a pretty big negative for D.C. residents whose lives already have a fair number of negatives. If an alcoholic drink were marketed with such child-oriented themes, the good-government types would go ballistic. But when government itself markets in the same way, reaping tens of billions of dollars in revenues in the process, no one says a word."