Government and some of the Island's hotels announced last week – following an exclusive report in this newspaper – that they are paying for a feasibility study on the controversial question of gambling in Bermuda.

For years now, some hotels and tourism observers have seen casinos as critical to any sustained recovery in tourism. Now, with tourism arrivals plummeting, it appears government is prepared to at least look at the question.

An examination of the Island's gambling laws is no bad thing. They are a confused mess, with some forms of gambling being legal, while others are banned. The law itself is desperately in need of modernisation, as the Internet and other new developments have revolutionised the world of gaming.

Casinos or lotteries also have the potential of raising substantial revenues for Government without the pain associated with tax increases. This possibility, along with the possibility of raising tourism numbers, will not have escaped Government's notice.

Nonetheless, there are substantial and valid objections to legalised gambling. Aside from the moral questions that are already being raised by the churches, gambling can cause tremendous social problems, both in terms of addiction and the possibility of increases in crime and corruption.

More broadly, there is the risk that those who can least afford to gamble are those most likely to get sucked into it. While it is wrong for governments to intrude too far into the individual's right to choose to waste their lives, families and other innocents can also suffer. Governments do have an obligation to protect them.

No doubt the feasibility study will look into the question of whether gambling, if allowed, should be available to all or if it should be restricted to tourists, as it is in the Bahamas.

Even in the latter case, there is the question of whether money the house wins in Bermuda will stay here or if it will end up abroad in the hands of the casino operator. The evidence there is decidedly mixed.

This newspaper's position has been consistent for some time. There is a good deal of evidence from other jurisdictions that the benefits of casino gambling do not outweigh the costs and for that reason, unless sufficient evidence to the contrary is produced, casino gambling in Bermuda should be opposed.

However, there are good arguments in favour of a lottery, but only if the proceeds are administered by an apolitical body and are used to fund good causes, sports, culture and the like. This concept has been generally successful in the UK and elsewhere, and is worthy of being considered here. While it would not bring in revenue to Government, it would relieve some of the demands on the public purse for everything from football and cricket to drama and dance.

This is a subject that has engendered a good deal of debate in the past and no doubt there will be plenty more in the future.

The major concern is that this $300,000 study already has a preordained conclusion, given that those hoteliers who are helping with its funding are broadly in support of the idea.

Since the Innovation Group, which has been commissioned to do the study seems to be intimately connected to the casino sector and apparently gets most of its revenue from that sector, it is hard to imagine that they will come out in strong opposition to the idea.

Government, just as it did with the examination of Independence, may well have damaged the credibility of this study before it has begun it in its choice of consultant, since any proposal in favour of extending gambling will inevitably be seen as a fix.