I can see no benefit to allowing organized crime to collect one dollar let alone 10 billion. Legalizing marijuana and single sports betting will cripple their abilities to operate. Then there is the income it will produce to eliminate Liberal deficits crippling provinces and the country.

July 3 will mark the 157th year of the of the Queen's Plate, the oldest thoroughbred horse race in Canada. From its simple beginnings in 1860 at the Carleton track in Toronto at the corner of Keele and Dundas, the Queen's Plate has now grown into a massive event.

Contrary to popular myth, Powerball players are, in fact, quite rational and realize that they won't win the jackpot. Everyone's notional value invested in playing a lottery ticket differs. To call the majority of Americans who take small risks in small pleasures 'stupid' is anti-liberty, and emblematic of elitism.

Unlike Canada, the U.S. does not let you have lottery or gambling wins tax-free. So whether you are playing fantasy sports sites based in the U.S., gambling in Vegas or playing a U.S. lottery, you can expect the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to be interested in your winnings.

Taxes on tobacco and junk food, restrictions of advertising to children, attempts to address problem gambling, and other strategies can be sound policies in appropriate circumstances to promote healthy choices. But their effectiveness can face a lot of hurdles. Initiatives in one jurisdiction can be limited by the failure to act by other societies and by the virtual world impinging on the efforts of the real one. In this increasingly interdependent and connected world we need more local, international and global policy making and enforcement.