US (CAL) - “Tough odds for gambling addicts. As casinos have multiplied all over the state, so has the number of people who can’t stop - and help for them has not kept up”
Author: Fagan, Kevin
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Published Date: Dec 24, 2007
Description:
There are an estimated 1.2 million gambling addicts in California - 300,000, or about 30 percent, more than before voters approved Proposition 1A in 2000 to allow Las Vegas-class gambling on Indian lands in California, according to figures compiled over the past decade by the state attorney general’s office and the California Council on Problem Gambling. Only a handful of private counselors statewide treat gambling addiction. And while some states dedicate millions of dollars toward counseling for the ailment - a medically designated psychological disorder in its most severe, pathological form - California’s program addressing problem gambling is minuscule in comparison. With the citizens of California getting ready to vote in February on four Indian gaming compacts that could expand the number of slot machines in the state by nearly a third, critics say the issue of how to help those hurt by the trade is more important than ever.
