CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio’s eleven casinos and racinos have not yet led to an increase in problem gambling, officials say.
They credit strong prevention and education efforts that began years before the first casino, Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, opened in May, 2012.
“There is nothing going on that is alerting us or alarming us,” said Scott Anderson, problem gambling coordinator at the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “We started being proactive about this years ago.”
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio’s eleven casinos and racinos have not yet led to an increase in problem gambling, officials say.
They credit strong prevention and education efforts that began years before the first casino, Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, opened in May, 2012.
“There is nothing going on that is alerting us or alarming us,” said Scott Anderson, problem gambling coordinator at the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “We started being proactive about this years ago.”
He said everyone who has requested treatment has received it.
“But what we know from other states is that the problem doesn’t really start spiking until two years after everything is up and running,” Anderson said.
The final racino just opened, so it may take another year or more to see if gambling addiction is increasing, he said.
Problem gambling issues with slot machines and electronic table games occur in one or two years while problems with table games take three to five years, he said.
“Slot machines appear to be more habit-forming or addicting than the other forms of gambling because of the immediacy and intermittent reward,” he said. “You play much faster.”
More than 1,000 men and women have banned themselves from casinos and racinos for a year, five years or life.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission’s Voluntary Exclusion Program now includes 1,179 names. About 200 people have said they want to be excluded from racinos, which are operated by the Ohio Lottery Commission.
Calls and screening for gambling increase
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, there were 9,727 calls made to the toll-free Ohio Problem Gambling Hotline, which is extensively publicized in all gambling facilities, on billboards and in advertisements. About half were related to problem gambling, officials said.
Tracy Plouck, director of the mental health and addiction services department, presented its annual report to the Casino Control Commission on Wednesday.
Dozens of state agencies screened screened 25,966 men and women for gambling disorders and 924, or 3.6 percent, were diagnosed and treated in fiscal year ending June 30. Those numbers are 77 percent higher than the 5,898 screened and 209 treated in the prior two years.
The 3.6 percent is consistent with studies, including a 2012 survey that showed 2.8 percent of Ohioans were at some level of risk for problem gambling, according to the presentation. And many of those who were diagnosed were also being treated for substance abuse or other disorders.
The state has provided services for problem gambling since 2002.
“The casinos are new but gambling is not new,” Anderson said. “There has been the lottery, horse racing, betting on dogs, bingo, and sports betting for a very long time.”
In May 2012, a formal partnership was announced under a new organizational name,Ohio for Responsible Gambling. It includes the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the Ohio Lottery Commission, the Ohio State Racing Commission and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
The state department is the lead agency responsible for prevention and treatment of problem gambling and disburses money from the Problem Gambling and Addictions Fund to 50 county Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health/Alcohol, Drug Addiction Services Boards for prevention and treatment of problem gambling.
Two percent of casinos’ revenue goes to the Problem Casino Gambling and Addictions Fund. In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, $3.8 million was distributed, said Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson, problem gambling services administrator for the state agency. Sixty percent of the funds must be used for prevention and 40 percent for treatment.
Each racino provides one-half of one percent of its revenues to the lottery commission for problem gambling services. Now that he final racino has opened it appears about $200,000 a month will go toward problem gambling.
Local counselors trained to help problem gamblers
Problem gambling services in Cuyahoga County and nearby counties are provided byRecovery Resources, which receives the state casino and racino funds from the county’s drug addiction and mental health services board.
The agency has provided services for problem gambling prevention and treatment for more than a decade, said Johni Fiber, manager of gambling services.
“We haven’t seen an increase in people requesting help due to the casino,” she said. “We see people who gamble in all kinds of ways.”
Recovery Resources builds awareness of all addictions at hitmecleveland.com.
The Ohio Lottery has been successful with its humorous statewide “I Lost A Bet” campaign to highlight the dangers of problem gambling. There have been more than 100,000 visitors to its website, ilostabet.org.
Fiber said services are free for gamblers and their families and are provided it is provided in Summit, Lorain and Lake counties as well.
“In the last two years we have focused a whole lot on public awareness raising,” she said.
In the past fiscal year it received $75,000 from the Ohio Lottery and $415,000 from the casino control commission funds. The lottery funds and 40 percent of the casino funds are used for treatment, she said.
It also has a $50,000 state grant to train counselors statewide on how to treat problem gambling.
“Many people do not have a good understanding of what problem gambling is,” she said. “Gambling is a recreational activity that can be done in good fun, be safe and people can have a good time. But it can have severe consequences if it gets out of control.”
Many people with gambling problems also have mental health issues or chemical dependency and use gambling to cope, Anderson said.
“Gambling is unique in the sense that it is the only mood-altering experience that could possibly make your life better,” he said. “You could win and have your bills paid and problems solved.”
Officials take proactive measures to meet future needs
Matt Schuler, executive director of the casino control commission, agrees that there has not ben an exponential spike in the number of problem gamblers.
“The challenge is that in the span of two years we have gone from lottery games and charitable bingo to 11 gambling establishments,” he said. “So I think it is too soon to say whether there has been an increase of problems.”
Anderson said the state expects to be well-prepared in the future to handle gambling addiction.
Until now, licensed social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists were qualified to treat problem gamblers, Anderson said. Legislation was recently approved to allow chemical dependency counselors to take classes and get an endorsement to treat problem gamblers.
In 2015 the agency will repeat the 2012 statewide survey that showed number of Ohioans with a gambling problem was miniscule but more people are at risk of addiction.
“That will give us an indication of advocacy and efforts and if we see an area of the state that has increase in the number of people that present problems,” he said. “We can shift resources.”
Jeff Marotta, a nationally recognized consultant on problem gambling services from Oregon, has recently signed a contract to conduct a review of Ohio’s services, Anderson said.
“We will be also hiring a continuous quality improvement person through one of the universities to make sure we have the best practices around prevention and treatment across the state,” he said.