The Bahamas: Against a National Lottery

The Bahamas and its National Lottery Referendum The Islands of the Bahamas, located just southeast of Florida is a chain of islands that make up a tiny yet proud country in the Caribbean. Currently the government of the Bahamas, based on the British parliamentary system, is debating on the legalization of a national lottery for the country. Since the Bahamas is a predominantly Christian country, gambling is illegal for local citizens since it is considered a sin in The Bible. The questions of a national lottery and/or the legalizations of the numbers business are major issues of social ethics and public policy. For as long as the Bahamas has been around, the act of gambling for locals has been illegal and the Bahamas has been doing fine, so why change this. Legalizing a national lottery would only cause harm and disruption to the simple Bahamian lifestyle. Some may say that the legalization of a lottery can be very beneficial, yet the over look the cons that come along with it, such as gambling addiction and its negative impact it will have on tourism. For me, gambling is like this; it can be an enjoyable activity for many that can quickly become a major problem if abused. Legalizing a national lottery is just an unnecessary headache for the Bahamian Government and its citizens. New Providence is currently the capital of the Islands of the Bahamas with the largest population and being the main tourist hub, commonly referred to as Nassau. Currently, there are two large casinos on the island, one at the Atlantis Hotel and Resort and one at the Baha Mar resort at cable beach. Millions of tourists come in and out of the Bahamas yearly on vacation looking to gamble enjoy both of these casinos as they are packed year round. If the current Prime Minister Perry Christie were to legalize a national lottery, this means he would be legalizing the act of gambling for local citizens, thus allowing them to gamble along side with the tourists. This would cause chaos in the