Gambling awareness week kicks off
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 12:43 PM PST
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| Beckey Arnold | Argus observer
Andrea Lockner (front) talks about the impact of gambling addiction while Nan Moss (behind Lockner) looks on. Lockner and Moss were on hand at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce session Monday to give a presentation regarding gambling addiction in Oregon. |
Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of an occasional series on gambling in Oregon and Malheur County.
Andy Gates
Argus Observer
ONTARIO
The colors green and white signify more this month than just St. Patrick’s Day.
Small ribbons were spread across a series of long tables at an Ontario Chamber of Commerce gathering at Sizzler to promote Oregon Problem Gambling Awareness Week Monday.
Gambling addiction may not be a problem for the majority of Malheur County residents, but the Oregon Department of Human Services is rallying hard against the disorder and kicked off an aggressive advertising campaign Monday to raise recognition.
Lifeways Prevention Coordinator for Malheur County Andrea Lockner gave a gambling presentation to the chamber gathering.
One family suffering because of gambling related problems is too many, Lockner said.
That is because debilitating gambling side effects can rub off on more than just the problem gambler, Lockner said.
A gambling addiction can create more debt for an individual and lead to crime, depression, suicide and substance abuse problems, Lockner said.
Help, though, is available, and it is free, Lockner said, to entire families affected by gambling problems in Oregon. Someone who can help is Lifeways Senior Clinical Supervisor for Mental Health Services Nan Moss, who also spoke during the chamber gambling presentation.
Malheur County is one of the poorest counties in Oregon, Moss said, and free gambling treatment is available to residents of the county as well as people in nearby Idaho who gamble in the county.
“I tell them they already paid for it in advance,” Moss said of Idahoans seeking gambling treatment.
One percent of Oregon lottery revenues finance the ODHS problem gambling services program, according to a press release from the agency.
Lockner explained problem gambling awareness is not anti-gambling, it is a promotion of services and information.
“I understand the lottery supports me doing this,” Lockner said.
ODHS estimated that in 2006 approximately 2.7 percent of Oregon’s population had a gambling disorder, but complicating the statistics, Lockner said, is the quiet, and often secret, nature of the problem.
“Any of us could become addicted,” Lockner said.
However, Lockner said most people who gamble in Oregon do not have a gambling problem.
Moss said many problem gamblers are from “middle America,” with jobs and families.
While Oregon Lottery sales in Malheur County increased by almost 13 percent between 2005 and 2006, according to ODHS information, youth gambling is also on the rise, Lockner said.
Children who gamble are more likely to drink alcohol, and Lockner said youth should be informed about the risks of gambling just as they would about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
Local Ontario Middle School students, Lockner said, recently participated in filming an educational video where they talked about gambling.
The state’s media campaign this week through television and radio advertisements is probably the nation’s first warning to frequent gamblers about the dangers of electronic gambling machines, according to a press release Monday from ODHS.
