Stocking Stuffer No-No: North Carolina Lottery Tickets

CHARLOTTE, NC — Looking for last-minute stocking-stuffer items for the kids? Well, if you buy a North Carolina Lottery ticket and put it in Junior's stocking, you're breaking the law. No, really. That's the word from the North Carolina Lottery.

Here's the North Carolina law that states as much: "It shall be unlawful for a person to sell a lottery ticket or share to a person under the age of 18 years. No person under the age of 18 years shall purchase a lottery ticket or share. A person who violates this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.”

“We know North Carolinians enjoy playing our holiday games,” said Alice Garland, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery, in a release. “But from working with our partners in the area of problem gambling, we also know that some who develop a gambling problem report their first experience came when they were young. And to help stop that from happening, we encourage adults to be active partners with us in preventing lottery tickets from ending up in the hands of minors.”

According to the DC-based National Council on Problem Gambling, research shows that lottery products such as scratch-off tickets can "be a gateway to excessive or problem gambling."

From NCPG executive director Keith Whyte: "The Holiday Lottery Campaign is a great way to encourage responsible gambling and help keep the fun in the holidays by gifting lottery tickets responsibly to adults."

Patch Editor Skip Wood contributed to this report.

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