Worries that Aqueduct racino may cause addiction

Worries that Aqueduct racino may cause addiction

BY Mark Morales
DAILY NEWS WRITER

A Queens lawmaker wants to make sure that local residents with gambling problems have access to counseling, especially after the Aqueduct racino opens this summer.

Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer sent a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver recently asking that he set aside $60,000 in the state budget to create a gambling addiction prevention program in Queens.

"We know that there are people that are addicted to gambling and we should have something accessible where people can go and ask for help," she told the Daily News.

The speaker's office is still getting budget requests from other lawmakers, a spokeswoman said, and everyone's request will be considered. The budget is supposed to be finalized on April 1, but New York State has met that deadline only six times since 1975.

As of now, 41 gambling addiction prevention programs are slated to be reduced or restructured, according to the budget.

Pheffer's letter, dated Feb. 8, highlights the need to educate people about gambling addiction, noting that video lottery terminals are being installed at Aqueduct.

"This gives us a chance to address the issue," said Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach).

Officials for the New York Council on Problem Gambling, a nonprofit group, said they received more than 200 calls from Queens last year looking for help - indicating that a prevention program is sorely needed.

"We don't take a stand against gambling; we just think there needs to be treatment and prevention and there's not enough of it in New York," said James Maney, the group's executive director.

Maney said he would like to see an ad campaign cautioning people about gambling addiction, but fears the ads beckoning customers will drown out any warning.

"There's only going to be one message - 'Come gamble. It's a lot of fun,'" Maney said.

Pheffer said she plans to keep the pressure on to create a prevention program in Queens. If she can't get one here, she said she plans to reach out to programs that already exist in other boroughs to lend a hand.

"A borough of over 2 million [people] should have what other boroughs have," Pheffer said. "There should be something in Queens that deals with residents that have a compulsive gambling problem."