The Rev. Greg Hogan flew from Ohio to Maryland to tell the story of Greg Hogan Jr., his 19-year-old son, who had won an international piano competition and was president of his sophomore class at Lehigh. One night a student came into his room and claimed he won $120,000 by Internet gambling.

Within minutes, he posted a link on Greg’s computer. That began Greg’s gambling through the $8,000 he came to college with. He began borrowing from friends, but could never pay them back. As he told “Good Morning America,” “I felt pressure to come up with the funds.”

So he robbed a bank! “I thought if I could pay off my debts, I would stop gambling forever. However, if I had more money, my addiction would probably not have let me stop,” he confessed to a national TV audience.

Greg was asked, “Why didn’t you ask your parents for help?” His father answered, “We learned he had a gambling addiction the summer before, and got him help. He went to Gamblers Anonymous. I didn’t realize how firm a grip addiction had on my son.”

Within hours of the robbery, he was arrested as he arrived to play cello in an orchestra. He served 22 months in prison, and is out now but with a ruined life.

While we totally understand the need for responsible gambling, is it really fare to forbid internet gambling to the entire country? Haven’t we learned enough from the financial crisis, that the government can’t be the backstop, parent and moral authority for the entire United States? When will people stop spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt and instead embrace the facts that US is a free country and people should be able to recreationly gamble over the internet if they wish?

Gambling for free on the Internet has become the most popular gambling activity among youths in Oregon, according to a new survey. That concerns officials who say it introduces teenagers to gambling and grooms them for other forms in which money is waged.”You’re learning that gambling is fun, it’s stimulating, and it’s risk-free,” said Wendy Hausotter, problem gambling prevention coordinator with Oregon Department of Human Services. “That’s not true at all.” The survey, commissioned by DHS last year, found that 33 percent of youths ages 12 to 17 — an estimated 94,659 teens — gamble online for free.

It’s an activity that is convenient and easily accessible, officials say, because it can be done at home at any time, often under no supervision from parents. Its novelty, high level of stimulation and low level of physical exertion also appeal to youths, many of whom are tech-savvy. [So lazy kids sit in front of the computer all day and happen to play poker? What if the parents forced them to go outside? Scary idea.-Editor]

“It’s the game of choice among youth, which is surprising for us,” Hausotter said. “It wasn’t on the radar screen.” The last survey done on youth gambling in Oregon was in 1998. It didn’t ask teens and their parents about free online gambling.

The article and the associated study goes on to talk about all the ills associated with free online gambling. Well, whats the difference between free online gambling and Solitaire card games that has come with every Windows computer since 1990? Playing games such as World of Warcraft or Everquest online with no actual money involved is in a way gambling.  Game of Monopoly (fake money involved) is gambling. NCAA March Madness Basketball pools among buddies is gambling. What’s the difference?  At some point in life people need to learn self-control, not everything needs government regulation. It’ll be just a matter of weeks before some politician starts citing this study as the need for more anti-gambling regulation? Would I bet on that?