Legalize sports betting or legalize pot – Which would you rather? [Poll]

Last week, in the face of a push to get legalized sports betting here, I asked the question if instead of legalized sports betting, you’d rather see the recreational use of marijuana legalized.

Right now there seems to be every attempt to prop up the gaming industry here.

From the aforementioned addition of sports betting to the possibility of adding casinos at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, the jury’s in that Atlantic City is never going to be able to sustain itself given its current business model.

Unless we were to introduce sports betting into the mix. And now there's an appetite to introduce gambling at casinos in the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park - something which seemed to be a non-starter not long ago.

And while sports betting might be a good shot in the arm to bolster its fortunes – and those of the state; a better plan might be to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

This is just an educated guess, but I’d imagine there’d be more of a call to legalize pot than to legalize sports betting.

The gaming market to me, doesn’t seem to be as large.

And as this report states, contrary to the beliefs of the Governor, Colorado, which recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana, hasn’t turned out to be the state with a head shop on every corner.

Six months on, Colorado's marijuana shops are mushrooming, with support from local consumers, weed tourists and federal government taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Tax dollars are pouring in, crime is down in Denver, and few of the early concerns about social breakdown have materialized - at least so far.

In the first four months, marijuana sales amounted to more than $202 million, about a third of them recreational. Taxes from recreational sales were almost $11 million.

Despite some critics' fears of a pot-driven crime explosion, Denver police say burglaries and robberies were down by between 4 and 5 percent in the first four months of the year.

As Colorado passes the six-month mark, Washington state is approaching with some trepidation the launch next week of the nation's second recreational pot market.

Up to 20 retail marijuana stores are due to receive licenses on July 7, fueling concerns about long lines, high prices, and the possibility of inadequate supplies when doors open the following day. Washington state officials have received some 2,600 applications from would-be weed growers, but say they have approved fewer than 80.

A recreational pot initiative will be on the ballot in Alaska this fall, and legalization bills look likely to pass in Oregon and the District of Columbia.

Here’s the deal: One has to wonder if we’re so willing to go against federal law and include sports betting as part of our gambling menu – why not the recreational use of marijuana.

Here’s another thing to consider: If the Governor’s presumptive presidential backers had a foothold in the legal marijuana industry, do you still think he’d still be so adamant about not allowing for the legal sale of the substance.

Food for thought.

So, one more time for the boys overseas:

If given the choice between legalizing sports betting at casinos in Atlantic City, the Meadowlands, and Monmouth Park; or legalizing the recreational use of pot: which would you rather?