Gambling Availability and Addiction

Gambling promoters frequently maintain that there is little, if any relationship between the availability of gambling and gambling addiction. However, testimony from experts and data from gambling communities indicate otherwise. Indeed, the phenomenal explosion of legal gambling opportunities in the 1990s has been closely paralleled by a concomitant explosion in the number of problem and pathological gamblers in the United States.

• The number of Gamblers Anonymous chapters in the United States has quadrupled in the last eight years. GA now has more than 2,000 chapters meeting regularly across the country. (Gerard Shields, "Where Gambling Goes, Gamblers Anonymous Follows," Scripps Howard News Service, [Gulfport/Biloxi, Miss.] Sun Herald, August 28, 1997.)
• Dr. Rachel Volberg has conducted the majority of compulsive gambling prevalence surveys in the United States. According to Dr. Volberg, the prevalence of gambling problems, as indicated in her statewide surveys, has increased noticeably in more recent years as gambling has become more widely available. (Rachel A. Volberg, "Prevalence Studies of Problem Gambling in the United States," Journal of Gambling Studies, Summer 1996, p.123.)
  
• Two gambling behavior surveys conducted in Minnesota showed a substantial increase in the number of compulsive gamblers coincidental with the expansion of gambling in that state. The lottery was introduced in Minnesota in 1990, while casino gambling was just gaining a toehold that year. By 1994, however, there were 17 casinos in operation in Minnesota with estimated gross annual sales of between $3 billion to $4 billion. The percentage of Minnesota adults who demonstrated a serious gambling problem in the past year climbed from 2.5 percent of the population in 1990 to 4.4 percent in 1994. (Michael 0. Emerson, J. Clark Laundergan, James M. Schaefer, "Adult Survey of Minnesota Problem Gambling Behavior; A Needs Assessment: Changes 1990 to 1994," Center for Addiction Studies, University of Minnesota, Duluth, September 1994.)
  
• Gambling surveys in the state of Iowa showed a marked increase in the number of problem and pathological gamblers after the introduction of casinos. In 1989, only 1.7 percent of Iowa adults showed indications of having a serious gambling problem; by 1995, the percentage had more than tripled to 5.4 percent. (Rachel A. Volberg, "Gambling and Problem Gambling in Iowa: A Replication Survey," Iowa Department of Human Services, July 28, 1995.)
  
• Studies being undertaken at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas indicate the incidence of problem gambling in Nevada is 8 or 9 percent, which would be the highest rate in the nation. (Rex Buntain, "There's a Problem in the House," International Gaming & Wagering Business, July 1996, p.40.)
  
• A court-ordered temporary shutdown of video lottery machines in the state of South Dakota resulted in a drastic reduction of people seeking treatment for gambling addictions. A study of gambling treatment centers in the state found that before the machines were shut off, the four centers studied received an average of 68 inquires and treated 11 gamblers per month. During the time the machines were shut down, the average number of inquiries and clients treated both plummeted to less than one per month. Once the machines resumed operations, the number of average monthly inquiries immediately increased to 24 while eight gamblers a month sought treatment at each of the facilities. (Robert D. Carr, Jerome E. Buchkoski, Lial Kofoed, and Timothy J. Morgan, "'Video Lottery' and Treatment for Pathological Gambling: A Natural Experiment in South Dakota," South Dakota Journal of Medicine, January 1996, p.31.)
  
• Dr. Rob Hunter, founder and director of the Charter Hospital Gambling Treatment Center in Las Vegas and a nationally recognized expert on gambling addiction, estimates that 15 percent of casino workers have a compulsive gambling problem. (Buntain, op. cit., p.40.)
  
• In New York, the percentage of individuals who report having had a gambling problem increased from 4.2 percent in 1986 to 7.3 percent a decade later, as gambling opportunities greatly expanded. (Rachel A. Volberg, "Gambling and Problem Gambling in New York: A 10-Year Replication Survey, 1986 to 1996," Report to the New York Council on Problem Gambling, July 1996.)
  
• In Oregon, the number of Gamblers Anonymous chapters increased from three to more than 30 within five years of the introduction of video poker machines. Gambling addiction experts contend video poker is among the most addictive forms of gambling. (Jeff Mapes, "Gambling on Addiction," The Oregonian, March 9, 1997, p. 1A.)
  
• In 1996, Mississippi and Louisiana ranked number three and four, respectively, among the states in terms of the amounts of money legally wagered. ("1996 Gross Wagering By State," International Gaming & Wagering Business, August 1997, p.20.) Recent studies indicate that 7 percent of adults in both of those states have been classified as problem or pathological gamblers. (Rachel A. Volberg, "Gambling and Problem Gambling in Mississippi," Report to the Mississippi Council on Compulsive Gambling, November 1996, p.31. (NOTE: The actual percentages were 7.0% for Louisiana, 6.8% for Mississippi.))
  
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