With the state of Michigan, according to its own records, raking in a veritable mountain of cash each year from legalized online gambling, it is not at all clear why Lansing isn’t doing more to provide resources to deal with the inevitable result of all that betting: Compulsive gambling.

According to a recent story from the authoritative Bridge Michigan that was reprinted by The Mining Journal, Michigan received a failing grade from an advocacy group for its efforts to protect gamblers. The state pulled in $624.6 million off online gambling last year, including $27.1 million in taxes and fees from sports betting. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed a per-wager tax meant to bring in even more money.

Bridge Michigan reported little of that money goes toward preventing the addiction that comes from easy access to wagers. This year, the state allocated just $9.5 million to gambling addiction services.

Other states with online betting such as Iowa, Massachusetts, and Tennessee do things like prohibit the use of credit cards on sports betting apps. Michigan, however, allows online gaming platforms to offer bets even to people exhibiting addictive behaviors, according to the Center for Addiction Science, Policy, and Research, which gave Michigan an F- for its addiction protections.

“Part of the problem is that the ease of access to online sports betting is unlike the access to any other kind of vice or entertainment product that can lead to addictive behavior,” Karley Abramson, of the Citizens Research Council, said. “It’s just on our phones, readily available, limitless.”

Well, the phones aren’t going anywhere and either are the online sites they connect to, so in our estimation, that puts the ball squarely back in the state’s side of the court. More must be done and that means additional dollars invested in people and programs to combat this problem.

And that’s not going to be easy because a lot of people either don’t view compulsive gambling as a disease or think of it as a self-inflicted wound. Why should taxpayer’s receipts be spent for such purposes, they ask?

The answer is simple: If we want the vice, then we must pay the price. And that means, among other things, providing appropriate treatment options for people who get into trouble.