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Nevada Lacks Resources to Help Compulsive Gamblers10 August 2001CARSON CITY, Nevada –– As reported by the Associated Press: “Rex Williams knows all too well what it's like to gamble on his life's earnings, job and marriage -- to lose most of it while riding high in a casino. ”…A recovering gambling addict, Williams said he knows the `hidden, dark side of gambling that no one wants to talk about.’ ”…There are as many as 20 million compulsive gamblers in the United States, including about 1.5 million teen-agers, according to Gambler's Anonymous. ”Williams wants the state to help compulsive gamblers get the treatment they need. ”…Williams took his case to the 2001 Legislature, asking lawmakers to approve SB335, giving problem gamblers the same legal standing that alcoholics or drug addicts have in seeking access to sentencing alternatives -- providing they finish treatment programs. ”The measure -- the first of its sort in Nevada -- died in the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. ”`I think it was incongruous that nearly every other state that has gaming has allotted state resources to help compulsive gamblers, yet Nevada -- the gaming capital of the world -- doesn't have anything,’ said Senate Judiciary Chairman Mark James, R-Las Vegas, sponsor of SB335. ”…Rob Hunter, clinical psychologist at the charity-based Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas, called the Legislature's lack of action ludicrous. ”`Nevada is the only gambling state that has not addressed problem gambling as a public health problem,’ he said. `This is a really addictive disease. It's not a will power problem or character problem. It's very similar to a drug or alcohol problem.’ ”As a member of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which spent two years studying America's betting boom, Richard Leone accused state governments of becoming addicted to revenue from gambling without fully examining its costs on society. ”…While the state lacks any treatment program for compulsive gamblers, a 12-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous has helped people, including Williams, a member since 1992. ”…[Williams said,] `We're never cured, we only keep it in remission, work hard and have to have a lot of discipline.’” |