A University of Illinois professor, John Kindt, has his own opinions about online gambling, and has simply ignored studies into online gambling addiction in order to make public statements that fit his own agenda.

Kindt has said that if the repeal of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) goes ahead, it will destroy the economy of the United States, as well as the American way of life. These rather broad statements are the kind of scare-tactics that are used by demagogues regarding online gambling.

The studies that have been done in Harvard Medical School’s Addiction Studies department, under the guidance of Dr. Howard Shaffer, and by Professor Dan Ross, the director of the Treatment of Problem Gambling in South Africa have both shown that online gambling is not any more addictive than other forms of gambling, and there may even be less problem gambling associated with gambling on the Internet.

Many legislators in the United States feel that it might be time to regulate and legalize online casinos as this would provide funds through taxation, and will also protect those citizens who choose to gamble online.

In a comment to a scientific website, Physorg.com, Kindt said “The revenue they would get is miniscule compared to the devastation it would bring to the financial systems, stock markets, national security and people’s lives.”

Kindt does not have any scientific studies to back up the blanket statements he chooses to make, as if they were fact, in the public arena.