Nevada has plan, but no money to help problem gamblers
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
The good news for Nevada is that it now has a strategic plan for treating problem gambling.
The bad news: State budget cuts have eliminated funding to put the plan in motion.
Bo Bernhard, executive director of UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, and Jeff Marotta, president of Portland-based Problem Gambling Solutions, kicked off the sixth-annual Nevada State Conference on Problem Gambling Thursday with speeches assessing how Nevada is addressing compulsive gambling, an affliction that affects not only individual players, but their families.
It’s believed that 5 percent of Nevadans who gamble have addictive behavior and another 9 percent are at risk.
Marotta said that over five years, academic experts and the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling have shepherded the development of a strategic plan to treat problem gamblers.