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Check-Cashing Stores Criticized for Lottery Sales27 May 2003CAMBRIDGE. Massachusetts—As reported by the Cape Cod Times: "Zeituni Onyango is out of work and doesn't have much money. But every now and then, she succumbs to temptation and buys a lottery ticket at the check-cashing store. "…She's not alone. "Check-cashing stores, which critics say target those lower-income people who don't use banks, sell millions of dollars of lottery tickets around the state each year. "And that practice raises questions, for some, about whether the state is selling tickets to people who can ill afford it. "`I really question the logic of having it placed in check-cashing stores,' said Rep. Barbara L'Italien, D-Andover, a lawmaker who has opposed expanded gambling in the state. `My feeling about gambling in general ... is that it's a really regressive form of taxation that really preys on our poorest citizens.' "…Massachusetts State Lottery Director Joseph Sullivan said people buy the tickets voluntarily as a form of entertainment. He emphasized that lottery proceeds go toward the budgets of the state's cities and towns, and that most of the people who buy lottery tickets can afford them…" |