ATLANTA - For the fiscal year ending this week, Georgia lottery ticket sales will have declined for the second consecutive year, a sign that the games are subject to the state??s stagnant economy, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

This year??s decline is expected to total up to $40 million, more than double last year??s drop of $18 million. And some are blaming high gasoline prices as the culprit.

"Not only do high gas prices make us cut discretionary spending, but a lot of lottery tickets are purchased at gas stations," said Roger Tutterow, an economist at Mercer University. "The number of visits doesn??t change, but once they have had a good part of their income pumped [into their car], it probably takes away their appetite for lottery tickets."

Prior to last year, Georgia??s lottery had realized increased sales every year but one since the games began in 1993.

Joan Schoubert, the Lottery Corp.??s senior vice president for finance, planning and development, said it is not necessarily that fewer people are playing but they are spending less.

"The quantity of players hasn??t gone down. The amount [of money] they have to play has gone down."