In an opinion issued last month, the department opened the door for states and their lotteries to bring online gambling to residents, as long as it does not involve sports betting.

At the same time, gambling backers likely will increase pressure on Congress to codify the DOJ opinion into law.

The Justice Department says the federal Wire Act only prevents gamblers from wagering on sports outcomes online and that other in-state bets, such as poker, would be permissible.

Nevada is acting quickly to capitalize on the DOJ opinion, approving rules that allow companies in the state to apply for licenses to operate poker websites.

Meanwhile, a Democratic state legislator in New Jersey says he wants his state to be "the Silicon Valley of Internet gaming."

Can Pennsylvania be far behind?

Cash-strapped states are desperate for money to pay for a myriad of concerns — education reform, transportation funding, bridge-and-road repair, police protection.

At the same time, states are under enormous pressure from the public to hold the line on taxes.

Online gambling, therefore, has emerged as a hot new revenue source.

Yet there is almost no thought given to the dark side of gambling, and that online gambling surely will make things worse.

Gambling states like to talk about all the good done by money raised through lotteries and contributed to senior citizen programs and other good causes.

But few states, if any, fully appreciate the human misery — broken marriages, child neglect and lost homes, lost jobs and, sometimes, lost lives — associated with addiction to gambling.

Even the economic benefits of gambling by states tend to be overstated. Nor do they necessarily solve states' budget problems.

The Obama Justice Department legal opinion is just that — an opinion. It can be withdrawn. Courts can intervene and render it void.

That should give gambling opponents some hope that a change of heart — or administrations — will result in Obama's controversial legal opinion eventually being reversed.