State board resumes talks on help for gambling addicts

AUGUSTA – Assistance for people with an addiction to gambling was among the issues discussed last week by members of the Maine Gambling Control Board.

Making sure such help is available is among the board’s charges. Work to that end began several months before the November opening of Hollywood Slots at Bangor, the state’s first casino-style gaming establishment.

As it stands, the state has little to offer in the way of treatment, gambling board Executive Director Robert Welch said Friday.

While there are two Maine chapters of Gamblers Anonymous, both are in Portland, he said. No such organization exists in or near Bangor.

That situation, however, is expected to change now that the Bangor racino is up and running. A percentage of the proceeds from slots is earmarked for addressing problem gambling, more specifically for counseling services related to gambling addiction.

As a first step, state agencies and Hollywood Slots are directing problem gamblers to call a nationwide toll-free hot line.

For the sake of consistency, all of the parties will promote the same number, (800) 522-4700, which rings into the National Council on Problem Gambling, Welch said.

From January through October of last year, the help line received 337 calls from Maine, Welch said. He noted that those calls predated the opening of Hollywood Slots at Bangor and, as such, were related to other kinds of gambling.

Sample educational materials featuring the numbers are being assembled for the gambling board’s review. Welch said he hopes to have the material ready to distribute in time for Responsible Gaming Week, March 5-12.

Also in the works is a training program for mental health providers.

Because the state doesn’t yet have programs for compulsive gambling, the board’s staff last year went to the state Office of Substance Abuse, which has extensive experience with treating other types of addictions, including drug and alcohol problems.

Kim Johnson, the office’s director, has been working for the last several months to develop a network of qualified problem-gambling professionals, Welch said last week.

He said training could begin later this year. Initially, an eight-hour training program for mental health counselors would be offered. That program, which would lead to initial certification, would be followed by an estimated 15 hours of required training.

The names of qualified counselors will be forwarded to the national problem gambling hot line.

Problem gamblers would be treated as outpatients from private offices.

In a July presentation for gambling control board members, Johnson said that while the state lacks hard data, some 2,000 Mainers, or less than 1 percent of the state’s population, considered themselves problem gamblers in 1998, when asked to complete a survey on the prevalence of substance abuse.

In theory, she said, 10 percent of those afflicted with a gambling addiction will seek help for their problem.

Also last week, Welch presented a list of tasks he plans to complete in the year ahead. These include:

. Establishing a storage system for files and application information.

. Developing a policy and procedures manual.

. Developing a policy for destroying records that no longer are needed.

. Obtaining approval for allowing the gambling unit’s civilian inspectors to take fingerprints of applicants for gaming-related jobs and licenses.