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If alcohol and sports betting are legal, why not THC?
It was coming and we all knew it. Governor Cooper signed House Bill 347 into law Wednesday, meaning that professional and college sports will now be open for betting on games and the various spreads that come along with that.
For example, the over-under line is perhaps the most popular of all the gambling options. The line for the Duke-Carolina basketball game could be 160 points. Are you betting on 159 or fewer combined points or for 161 and over? Games may also have point spreads that can be adjusted at the half.
If one team is favored by 9 points and blows the opponent out in the first half, another line will be posted during halftime which could make it easier for the losing team to “cover” whatever the second-half spread is. Just how sophisticated this will get in North Carolina depends on access to sports book venues across the state.
The Smith Center is not one of them, and let’s wonder whether betting will be allowed during college basketball games at PNC Arena, one of the approved sites that include the Spectrum Center (the Charlotte home of the NBA Hornets), NASCAR race tracks and golf courses for PGA events.
All gross sports wagering will be taxed at 18 percent by the state, minus the winnings. That is a projected $71 million annually by 2028.
Not all of it goes to education like the NC Lottery that began in 2006. But it will certainly help and begs the question about THC or marijuana, which is largely an illegal trade now but could add millions more to the coffers.
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, it put bootleggers and speakeasies out of business and taxing alcohol sales helped the country continue recovering from the Great Depression. There is no hard evidence that the level of alcoholism changed from before or after the 13 years of Prohibition that began in the Roaring ‘20s.
Gambling is an addiction for some people, just as drinking can be. In both cases, the financial consequences and health issues are immense. Making THC or marijuana products legal could take that business off the streets, better regulate it and keep sales in moderation like in other states and countries.
Will North Carolina ever consider legalizing anything more than CBD products and hemp? Not in the next 20 years, but when the younger generations get more powerful in politics, there will be much more discussion on pot production, sales and consumption that could be more profitable and less addictive than either booze or betting.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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