The apparent increase in gambling among youth is staggering. All of the West Coast states and Idaho and Nevada have set the age at 21 and only two of our Indian casinos allow people under age 21 to gamble.

I was appalled that our own state government could so ruthlessly target teenage gamblers and view them as the gambling population of the future.

This is a sensible step that brings Washington's gambling age in line with the drinking age, and the laws of most other states.

It's clear that the governor understands the potential problem that gambling causes teenagers, and the lottery in particular.

Gambling can be just as addictive as drugs and alcohol. Teens and their parents need to know that they're not just gambling with money, they're gambling with their lives.

Where were all the women gamblers? It wasn't as if being a woman wasn't a huge risk all by itself. Twenty-eight percent of female homocide victims were killed by husbands or lovers.

Which, come to think of it, was probably why there weren't any women gamblers. Living with men was enough of a gamble.