Golden State Gambling

Today I received two separate emails from two very dear friends and they both contained essentially the same story. The story was about gambling in my home state of California. One email was a shortened story and the other email contained a 182 page report compiled by the California Attorney General. Here is the entire report for any of those interested.

I haven't had a chance to read over the entire report but I have scanned some of the very interesting parts on problem gambling. Here is a frightening excerpt; Prevalence increases considerably among adult casino gambling patrons 4.6 percent are problem gamblers and 5.4 percent are pathological gamblers. A study by the National Opinion Research Center found that adults living within 50 miles of a casino had double the probability of pathological or problem gambling. Using those numbers that would equate to over one million people who live in the state of California which is very frightening and maybe on the conservative side.

Two other passages which caught my attention were; Based on national estimates, the annual cost of adult pathological gamblers in California is an estimated $489 million, and the annual cost of adult problem gamblers is an estimated $509 million--nearly one billion dollars in total. These costs derive from a number of social and personal problems that correlate with problem gambling including crime, unpaid debts and bankruptcy, mental illness, substance abuse, unemployment and public assistance.

California state prevention programs for problem and pathological gambling are just getting underway, and there are no state-funded treatment programs. The state's Office of Problem Gambling in the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs has a budget of about $3 million. Based on an estimate provided by the California Council on Problem Gambling, it would cost around $280 million to offer all of the state's adult problem and pathological gamblers a six-week intensive treatment course, with follow-up at Gamblers Anonymous. There currently are a very limited number of certified therapists, so there would need to be investment in capacity-building first.

Based on the email I received from my other dear friend which summarizes this report; California gambling interests took in over $13 billion in 2004 which means pathological gambling costs roughly 8% of the overall revenues. This seems like a very high total when only $3 million is earmarked to help pathological gamblers. The numbers don't seem to add up for those of us like myself who need help. Helping problem gamblers in California is at the infancy stage and hopefully with more awareness will come more funds. It is in everyone's best interest to ensure those who need help are able to get help when it comes to problem gambling.

An interest sidelight to this study is I had a hand in feeding some financial information in my previous capacity as this study covers the years from 1998 forward. I always tried my best to come up with exact numbers but sometimes in the interest of time those numbers were padded in favor of the casino. No, I didn't disperse any information on problem gambling it was just revenues and expenses distributed by my previous employer. Ever year in May I would dispense this information to an institute who compiled economic impact surveys from the various Native American Casinos in California. Yet another irony in my particular situation.

I am sure as the weeks pass up until my "departure" date I will write more about this fascinating report. As I have written before gambling is a HUGE industry and is here to stay but hopefully somewhere down the road especially here in California there will be funds available to those who have been hurt by this rapid expansion of gambling. I am only one person and can only help myself but hopefully someone out there has read my particular situation and realizes a life without gambling is a full and rewarding life. By realizing this I hope they do seek help at whatever level they maybe at because it is never too late.

Finally, this morning I had the great pleasure to see my son sing with his pre-school class. I wrote about this last week as the "recital" was cancelled due to inclement weather and was rescheduled for today. I was very blessed to have been given the opportunity to see my little five year old son sing his heart out. He and the rest of his classmates did a remarkable job. Much like his sister yesterday my son had a huge smile on his face as he sang this morning. I get a double blessing because next Wednesday his pre-school class is having an end of the year play and I get to be the narrator.

The class will be singing a few songs along with a little skit and I was honored that the teacher asked me to do the narration. I had the pleasure of doing this for the Christmas Play and now that I will be available I will look forward to next Wednesday. There definitely a reason I was not sent away these past two times and I will use this time like I have used the past six weeks as a gift. I will continue to enjoy each and everyday because that is what life is really about not making that next bet. I am so happy to have realized this and I do appreciate my new life with all my blessings that surround me.