Regulate gambling, don’t eliminate it

Re: Gambling is bad and the government should get out of the business, May 23

Tyler Dawson is certainly entitled to his opinion about what activities are immoral.

He focuses on “boozing” and especially gambling in this article. But surely other people are entitled to their opinions on morality, and Mr. Dawson’s does not outweigh theirs. There is danger both from over-drinking and unconstrained gambling.

But there is also danger from many other recreational activities. For just one example, a number of years ago a study by the Canadian Medical Association found boating to be the leading cause of death related to recreational activities, and was exceeded only by car crashes and drug overdoses as the cause of death among young adult men.

Surely Mr. Dawson does not believe that recreational boating should be banned. Even though there are many deaths from boating, they represent a small percentage of boaters. Likewise, a relatively small number of participants are harmed from drinking and gambling.

It is appropriate for the government to be involved in harm minimization, including regulation, as in fact they are. Alex MacMillan, Kingston