"The recent emergence of gambling issues on several fronts says it's time again for a full-throated debate on this subject, especially given South Carolina's history on gambling and its statutory ban against most forms of it, including friendly poker games and church raffles.

The last real debate came in 2000, the year a ban on video poker went into effect and voters said "yes" to a state-run lottery to help pay for education.

This state's ability to get out ahead of gambling issues was tested in the 1990s with video poker and found to be sorely lacking. We fumbled and bumbled our way through that, with video poker casinos popping up on every corner and law enforcement working overtime to enforce what seemed to be ever-changing rules.

Leading the list today is the proposal to open an off-reservation Cherokee gaming casino in Hardeeville. The casino would be built on 50 acres in Hilton Head Lakes, with the imprimatur of the United Keetoowa Band of the Cherokee of Tallequah, Okla. The project holds the promise of thousands of jobs and hundreds of million of dollars in economic impact for Jasper County and the state."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Time to reopen debate on gambling in SC (The Island Packet 2/19)