Oregon Problem Gambling Services Budget Update, 5/19/09

[See the full page, including the complete Co-Chairs' recommmended budget here.]

On May 18, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means Co-Chairs' recommended a 15% reduction from 07-09 Essential Budget Level for Problem Gambling Services, not the elimination of services.
Currently line items dealing with Problem Gambling Services:

• 111 - AMH - Reduce Problem Gambling Treatment and Prevention by 15% (-$1,623,716)
• 112 - AMH - Reduce Problem Gambling program support by 15% (-$421,820)

Keep in mind that this is a Ways and Means Recommended Budget and must be approved by the full legislature. The recommended budget includes some tax increases that are receiving opposition.

It is expected that the legislature will complete a final budget by June 30. Legislators may still be contacted, including support or concerns you may have about this latest budget package.

[See the full page, including the complete Co-Chairs' recommmended budget here.]

Updated Problem Gambling Services Budget Info

Frequently asked questions, including fact sheets & legislative information, are regularly updated at: http://lanecounty.org/prevention/pgs

KMTR News story: 'State budget cuts take aim at gambling treatment services'

From Eugene's KMTR News --

Eugene (KMTR) - With a $3 (b)illion budget shortfall looming over the next two years Oregon lawmakers are looking to cut 30% from the budget of every state agency. That includes help for problem gamblers. People who run those programs and use those services say legislators are gambling with families futures.

In Lane County the services are run by Emergence. They have about 150 clients at any given time and hold support groups and help people make financial plans to get back on track. Emergence also runs the statewide gambling help line that gets about 6,000 calls a year. They also do gambling prevention education in local schools.

Program director Michele Tantriella-Modell says wiping out their programs would carry major social costs.

“What is big about it is the devastation it causes to families...financial devastation, emotional devastation the lack of trust. People end up losing jobs, end up divorced and have foreclosures and bankruptcies.” Tantriella-Modell said.

Untreated problem gambling has been linked to higher risks for divorce, depression and suicide.

About $12 (m)illion is dedicated to gambling treatment and prevention programs in Oregon. 1% of state lottery funds supports that. Emergence believes that if the state is going to promote the lottery and make money off of it then it's their responsibility to provide treatment for the section of the population that can't walk away from it.

[click here to read full story]

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What are your thoughts about the potential cuts? Click comments to weigh in, and click here for more information on how to weigh in with legislators.

Later gambling behaviors attributable to traits in childhood?

CNN story-- "Is your child a gambler?"

It may be possible to tell if a kindergartner will become an adult gambler. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

The story refers to research published in this month's Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

Science Daily summarized the study on its website:

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — Children whose teachers rated them as more impulsive in kindergarten appear more likely to begin gambling behaviors by the sixth grade, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals....

"Our results suggest that behavioral features such as inattentiveness, distractibility and hyperactivity at school entry represent a vulnerability factor for precocious risk-oriented behavior like gambling in sixth grade," the authors write. "It is very plausible that these childhood characteristics snowball into cumulative risks for youngsters who do not eventually outgrow the distractibility and inattentiveness from early childhood and become involved in gambling as a typical pastime for many youth. Most importantly, our observations suggest a developmentally continuous effect of impulsivity that places individuals on a life course trajectory toward gambling involvement in adolescence and emerging adulthood."

___What are your thoughts on this story? Please post comments below!

Oregon Problem Gambling Awareness Week Rally at UO

Lane County Problem Gambling Prevention & the University of Oregon's Problem Gambling Awareness Project are holding a Problem Gambling Awareness Week rally at the University of Oregon on March 4, 2009 at 9:45 am. Click here for more details. Click the map below to enlarge/print. See you on the 4th!