Each year, Massachusetts' funding for Gambling Addiction is on the chopping block even though lottery funds were promised for treatment/prevention.
The Massachusetts Lottery targets, advertises, market and promotes their obscene array of products to Gambling Addicts, while patting itself on the back for a job well done returning blood money to cities and towns with no prevention effort.
We've all witnessed those least able to afford to purchase scratch tickets spending the rent money doing so.
Statistics reveal the poorest communities have the highest sales.
Legislators pretend that inviting Predatory Gambling into the Commonwealth, an Industry that derives the majority of its profits by creating New Gamblers and New Gambling Addicts can somehow be 'mitigated' even though programs around the country have failed.
Failed public policy by any name is the same and preying on others betrays us all.
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State prepares to fight gambling addiction
By Mike Gleason/Daily News staff
Posted Jun 30, 2013
Mark Vander Linden has a challenge ahead of him.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s new director of research and problem gaming – who started his job this past week – must devise a regimen to prevent, mitigate and treat the problem of gambling addiction in the state before its new casinos open.
Vander Linden, the former executive officer of Iowa’s Office of Problem Gambling Treatment, said the way Massachusetts will combat the problem is what brought him to his new position.
"Massachusetts has something unique going on in terms of the expansion of its gaming," he said. "One of the things that drew me was how strong the legislation was – there are efforts to address the problem that I think are distinct."
Vander Linden said the state’s approach has been much more integrated and coordinated than what he has seen in other states.
"Whereas a lot of states look to add on something to mitigate the problem, it’s woven in here," he said.
State gaming commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the issue of gambling addiction was in the DNA of the law that brought casino gaming to Massachusetts.
"The legislation that the governor and Legislature collaborated on singled out problem gaming as one of the most important issues that must be addressed," Crosby said. "Our primary tool of addressing it is a public health trust fund, which is assessed against the license holders."
Crosby said that amount, which includes a $5 million base fee and a percentage of revenue, is expected to range between $15 million and $20 million a year. This, he said, represents a serious commitment to preventing and treating the problem.
"The totality of the money spent in 2010 to address problem gaming was $58 million – that’s for the entire U.S.," he said. "We will have $15 million to $20 million to work with."
Margot Cahoon, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, said her organization was consulted when the law was written.
"When the legislation bringing casinos to Massachusetts was passed a couple of years ago, we worked with the Legislature," she said. "If you’re going to expand gambling, there are things that can minimize the harm."
Cahoon said the council worked to ensure some best practices from other states were adopted in Massachusetts.
"If there’s someone on the floor who is a trained social worker, that helps," she said. "There will also be signs on the machines."
This approach differs from other states. Mary Drexler, the executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said, although 25 percent of the casino slot revenue goes to her state’s general fund, problem gaming treatment is paid for with lottery funds.
"About $1.9 million from the Connecticut State Lottery goes to the Department of Mental Health," she said. "Our council gets four-fifths of its funding from the casinos, but that’s voluntary on their part."
She said the council did see a spike in calls to its hotline when the casinos opened in Connecticut.
"Initially, when they started, we did get a lot of calls, but now the calls themselves have stagnated," she said. "We get between 500 and 600 legitimate cases a year through our helpline."
Drexler said, though, that those with gambling addictions could be availing themselves of the council’s other services, like its online chat program.
Though efforts to manage the problem are built into the Massachusetts legislation, the regulations that would implement the program have yet to be written.
Crosby said there are a number of ideas being considered, including training for casino personnel and increased support for already-existing programs.
"We’re even thinking about regulations on the machines themselves," he said. "The machines are designed to be attractive to people, and there’s certainly a school of thought that those should be looked at."
The first step, Vander Linden said, is looking at the current situation in the state.
"There’s a focus on research, on how to develop a response that will promote responsible gaming," he said. "As we launch, the primary focus will be a baseline study of gambling within the commonwealth.… Massachusetts has a unique window of opportunity, before the gaming expansion, to look at what gambling looks like. We will continue to monitor that over time, and look at how to develop strategies driven by research."
Another factor is developing strong partnerships throughout the state, ensuring that anyone with a gambling addiction can get some form of help.
"We have to make sure services are available across the state, not necessarily just in the metropolitan areas or host communities – that is where partnerships are important to us," Vander Linden said. "I understand the importance of state agencies and what their potential role is in mitigating problem gaming. I also worked at the national level, on the board of the National Center for Responsible Gaming, where I worked, consulted and talked with a number of other states that had gambling there. We spoke about strategies, pitfalls and things they would do differently."
For its part, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling is preparing. Cahoon said the council is training more clinicians and readying to handle more calls on its hotline.
"We do know that we should expect more problems," she said. "We’ve spoken to the New York (problem gambling) council, the Rhode Island council and the Connecticut council, and they’ve all said that, yes, they’ve seen an increase."
Eventually, Vander Linden said, the hope is to create a program worthy of emulation by other states.
"We’re developing something specifically for Massachusetts, but I think we could be raising the bar and doing things other states could pick up on," he said.
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