At the risk of comparing apples and oranges, please note that each year, some 3 million souls lose their lives due to alcohol, according to the World Health Organization. And while there are no hard numbers that show how many people have committed suicide from betting on sports, I'm going to go out on the longest limb imaginable and say it's less than 3 million a year.'
So comparing the risks of alcohol to the risks of sports betting isn't so much like comparing apples to oranges as it is comparing a loaded gun with a loaf of bread. They both can kill you, but one is significantly more likely to do so. (I mean, stick a whole loaf of Wonder bread in your mouth, you're liable to choke. It happens.)
Now, to be clear, I'm the one doing the comparison here. I'm not saying others are comparing the dangers of alcohol to the dangers of sports betting. But it's hard not to make this comparison when you see some of the nanny-state nonsense surrounding sports betting, specifically the mania involving politicians who are climbing over one another to take a crowbar to the sports betting industry's knees.'