In-School Problem Gambling Prevention Handout

To: In-school prevention folks.
It looks like I'll have a one-shot opportunity to give a one-page (double-sided) handout of information to public Middle and Jr. High School students in the county this school year. I'm wondering what would be a best choice. I'm thinking I could use the Oregon DHS "Gambling is Risky Business. Know the Odds" brochure for youth (Publication DHS 91062). But, I'd like to add information about setting healthy limits into the white space at the end of the brochure. The content I'm thinking of adding is set out below. The symbols to the left of each point are really bullets (didn't translate well into the blog format).
What do you think about this idea? Do you have a better idea?
Mary Ann

Setting Healthy Limits

Guidelines for responsible gambling:

• Gamble only for fun.
• Use only fun money (like you would if you went bowling or to a movie).
• Think of the money you lose as the cost of your entertainment.
• Set a dollar limit and stick to it.
• Set a time limit and stick to it.
• Accept losing as part of the game.
• Don’t borrow money to gamble.
• Don’t let gambling interfere with family, friends, school, or work.
• Don’t gamble to win back losses.
• Don’t use substances that impair your decision making.
• Don’t use gambling as a way to cope with emotional or physical pain.
• Know the law on underage gambling.
• Talk to a counselor if you think you have a problem.
  

Agency Name Address Contact Numbers

Legislators hear it from a former addict: Gambling treatment works

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april052007/gambling_oped_4507.php

April 5, 2007 by Jeff Marotta

Guest opinion: "Legislators hear it from a former addict: Gambling treatment works"

The scene was an afternoon public hearing this spring before a committee of the Oregon Legislature. The 50-ish man at the witness table was articulate and was dressed professionally. But his personal story of battling a gambling problem was one legislative committees don't often hear.

"I wasn't a person who was stealing your car stereos," he told the committee, "but that's where I was headed. Through treatment I got the tools necessary so I could get on my feet."

Today he is among the more than 80 percent of Oregonians for whom free, confidential treatment for a gambling addiction has been successful, meaning that six months later they either are gambling less or not at all.

On any given day approximately 1,300 Oregonians are in treatment for gambling disorders, some of the estimated 75,000 of our neighbors who are believed to have a current serious problem with gambling. It's a safety net paid for by the Oregon Lottery, and the sad fact is that most people who would benefit -- remember, it's free and it works -- don't use it.

Oregon's free treatment for gambling addiction, which typically has a value of approximately $1,200, is recognized nationally as a model for its effectiveness.

Another Oregonian, who says she hadn't been a gambler, remembers she began watching a friend gamble $40 to $60 on video poker during her lunch hours. The former non-gambler, a religious person who describes herself as "conservative," became interested and then hooked, before seeing a television commercial urging treatment. She says she got into treatment, which showed her how to channel her interests into other activities. "Thankfully, I also have a good job and a supportive family," she says.

But suppose you are married to a problem gambler who refuses to seek treatment. Help is still available. Getting into counseling will help you understand that you are not alone, you are not to blame, and will show the gambler that accepting outside assistance is OK.

Although total abstinence is the best answer for many problem gamblers, it isn't a requirement of Oregon's treatment program. For some people, it's enough to convert their gambling from spending harmful amounts of time and money into an occasional recreational activity.

To get into treatment, one need only call the toll-free helpline: 1-877-2-STOP-NOW (1-877-278-6766). In some instances, three-way calling may put you into immediate contact with a treatment program. In every case, you can be in treatment within hours or days.

One woman says she gave her husband an ultimatum to call the helpline after he gambled away $50,000. Without treatment, she says, "we wouldn't be married, there's no doubt in my mind." Another woman, whose husband incurred $120,000 in sports-gambling debt, says, "It not only saved our marriage but it also helped me become stronger."

Treatment really does work. There are many reasons to try it. Perhaps the best was summed up by the former problem gambler who told his story to lawmakers in Salem:
"My life today is wonderful," he said.

Jeff Marotta is problem gambling services manager in the Oregon Department of Human Services. He can be contacted at Jeffrey.j.marotta@state.or.us.
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CCMH offers therapy for gambling addiction

"CCMH offers therapy for gambling addiction"

By April Bamburg | The Chronicle
Wednesday, March 28, 2007


Gambling throughout the state has increased 400 percent since the state made gambling legal in 1985, according to state statistics. while Gambling Awareness Prevention Week (sic) has passed, Columbia Community Mental Health offers treatment for gambling addiction year-round, to citizens who feel they have a gambling problem, and to families of problem gamblers, While problem gambling affects a relatively low number, statewide just three percent, for that three percent, it can be extremely damaging.

According to Carol Chism, Gambling Prevention Coordinator for Clatsop and Columbia Counties, the average person with a gambling problem is Caucasian, middle-aged, and female. "More women [choose] video poker as their favorite than men do," Chism said.

Meet Lacey Ghannon, a local woman who has overcome her gambling addiction with the help of the CCMH program.

She was 21 when she started gambling, "playing for fun in the casinos," Ghannom said. Her gambling escalated during a troubled time at home, she said, and she started gambling more and more.

"I took out a loan on my car, three payday loans, I was borrowing money from my friends to gamble," she said.
Realizing she had a problem, Ghannom called the state's problem gambling hot line and began treatment, individual counseling, about eight months ago.

Since beginning treatment eight months ago, Ghannom said that she has quit gambling. "I told everyone I knew that I was not gambling." Telling friends and family that she had quit gambling helped Ghannom to stay away from what tempted her.

After nearly eight months of treatment, Ghannom has not gambled and will graduate in June with the ability to work as a medical assistant.

Many people don't think of gambling as an addiction, Chism said. According to statistics from the Oregon Lottery, between July 2004 and June 2005, Columbia County residents spent $430 on the Lottery, the fourth highest figure in the state. The statistics provided by the state do not include home poker games and kids buying scratch-its, (which) instead rely on self-reporting and surveys.

When a person is referred to CCMH for gambling addiction treatment, things move quickly. "We get referrals from the state hot line and set an appointment, usually within 48 hours," Chism said.

The first step in treatment is an assessment of what the client needs, and next comes regular appointments, which come at least once a week when people are first referred, Chism said. "Seventy-five percent [of those treated] recover from gambling addiction," Chism said. "Video [gambling] seems to be the hook for many adults and kids."

Statewide, gambling affects approximately three percent of the population. "What we're doing is identifying high risk populations," Chism said. "When people don't have a lot of activities to distract themselves, they gamble more. There are more gambling establishments in Columbia County [proportionally] than there are in larger counties."

Most problem gamblers start gambling compulsively after a big win, Chism said. "They pay a little and get a lot. The person who makes a big win can get hooked. It sneaks up on them, and they find they're spending more than they intended."

They spend their whole paycheck and then the desperation and the lies start. Problem gamblers start borrowing from their friends, and take out payday loans.

One client told Chism, "I've done drugs before. If I spent as much on drugs as I've lost gambling, I'd be dead. I would have overdosed."

Columbia Community Mental Health offers a variety of services to treat gambling addiction, from individual, group, or family counseling, to the offer of a respite bed for someone who needs a place to stay to get away from temptation. Chism said that these services are offered free of charge to clients in need."

For more information or to get help with problem gambling, call the state's help line, 1-877-2-STOP-NOW.