By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — A group that opposed creation of Arkansas’ lottery said Thursday it was mailing letters to Arkansas stores urging them not to accept vending machines that sell lottery tickets.
Jerry Cox, executive director of the Family Council, said about 420 letters were mailed to Dollar General, Family Dollar, Fred’s and Walgreens stores across the state.
“I firmly believe that some store owners are going to lose customers if these machines pop up in their stores. They are that unpopular,” Cox said Thursday in a news release announcing the group’s latest effort.
In the letter to stores, Cox wrote that Arkansans in 69 of the state’s 75 counties have submitted comments in opposition to the machines. He also argued that the machines will create opportunities for underage gambling and continuous lottery play.
“If other states are any indicator, you may very well find people loitering around the vending machines for extended periods of time, buying lottery ticket after lottery ticket instead of store merchandise,” Cox wrote.
Cox made the same arguments last month before the state Lottery Commission and the legislative committee that oversees the lottery. Both bodies endorsed the use of the machines with no members dissenting.
The lottery program has bought 100 vending machines and plans to install them this fall. Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue has said the machines are expected to raise about $5 million a year for college scholarships.
Polly Martin, president of the Arkansas Grocers & Retail Merchants Association, said Thursday she was initially skeptical about the machines, but when she saw one up close she found it “fabulous.”
Martin said small stores probably will not be interested in the machines because of the space they take up, but large stores will like them because they require less training than over-the-counter ticket sales and are virtually theft-proof.
The machines will scan driver’s licenses to verify users are 18 or older, will be monitored by store employees and will not dispense cash, so underage play is unlikely, she said.
“I know there’s a group that says that they’re horrible and all that, but for a business decision they are not,” Martin said.
