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If you unplug a video-gaming machine, will it keep on blipping?

It sure looks like it in North Carolina. Maybe it's the revenge of Jim Black.

If the textile, furniture and tobacco industries were so hard to kill, the state's unemployment rate would be cut in half.

The difference is, North Carolina will be better off without video poker and its endless variations.

The legislature recognized that in 2006, approving measures to phase out the machines by July 1, 2007.

It cleared a major obstacle along the way: the opposition of then-Speaker Black, who for years had stood immovably against efforts to ban video poker. He only backed away when he came under investigation by the State Board of Elections. Democracy North Carolina reported that Black received more than $200,000 in campaign contributions from video-poker operators and the N.C. Amusement Machine Association's political action committee from 2000 through 2004. Some of that money was used to pay Rep. Mike Decker to switch parties and keep Black in power. Black later was convicted of other corruption charges.

Black is behind bars, but video gaming persists in the form of "sweepstakes" machines. As Mark Binker reported in Sunday's News & Record, calls to gambling help lines have increased as these games have spread.

Despite an energetic campaign by state Rep. Earl Jones of Greensboro to legalize video gaming and make sure the state collects tax revenue from the machines, the legislature's intent has been clear. It means to prohibit this activity, which promotes problem gambling and adds to local law enforcement problems. Unfortunately, the General Assembly has been frustrated by the industry's ability to reshape its games into the guise of more acceptable practices -- sweepstakes, for example. Legislators have to find a way to ban the video-gaming version while allowing the innocuous varieties.

In the meantime, authorities deserve some help from retailers who offer these games. Shopkeepers should get rid of them. They're not providing a service to their customers or building better communities. Responsible family members also should try to check the impulses of relatives who waste their money on glittering promises. If counseling or other intervention is needed, call the North Carolina Problem Gambling Helpline, toll-free at (877) 718-5543.

"They're everywhere, they're all over Greensboro," Rep. Jones said of video sweepstakes machines.

That means people all over this city are spending money in an essentially useless and potentially addictive activity widely recognized as a vice. It's a shame, but the solution isn't to substitute legally sanctioned machines, which contribute to the same social problems. Instead, legislation is needed to enforce the will of this state, which is to restrict gambling.

When the plug is pulled, the gaming machines should go dark and quiet -- for good.