Franzsese’s father was an underboss in the Colombo family in New York.  He stated that it was common for police cars to follow his family and that he grew up hating the police.

As for gambling, Franzese said online gambling has become very popular and that people may not realize that it is illegal since people rerely report the Web sites to law enforcement officials.  He made the statement, “If you’re gambling online, you’re involved involved in criminal activity.”  Franzese made a point that athletes should be especially careful.  He said more people gamble on men’s basketball than on the Super Bowl.  He stated that people who are betting on a game might ask players to give them inside information or to play poorly.  Once a player starts doing this, Franzese said, “the player can’t get out of it.  Guys on the streets are like leeches, man.  They don’t let go.”

This infamous mobster said that Nevada is ranked first in gambling, suicide, addiction, divorce and women murdered by men.  This, he said, shows what happens when gambling becomes a problem. 

Franzese spent eight years in prison and said that over 2.5 million people are currently incarcerated in state and federal penal institutions with more going to prison everyday as a result of gambling.

Society would be better off without gambling, for this there is no doubt.  Nevertheless, gambling exists therefore one must decide the best alternative to keep the resulting crime rates to a minimum.  Should society legalize gambling, control it severely, and reap any money that may result from it?

I have long subscribed to the theory that society cannot legislate morality and I continue to believe this today.  The evidence cannot be disputed that areas that have legalized gambling also have higher crime rates, larger numbers of people eating a community food kitchens and a much hight rate of child abuse.

I don’t have the answer but I do know that society breeds criminality and it appears that gambling contributes to this criminality;

Dr. Edward Blackwelder