Lottery mania: An Editor's view.

The growth and transformation of state lotteries in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century has been dramatic. As lotteries have evolved into high stakes games of a pari-mutuel nature, states have come to rely on them as revenue generators. But lotteries have only limited ability to raise funds for government, and unintended social consequences derived from their growth and evolution may outweigh their revenue generating capacity.