The Council on Compulsive Gambling in Pennsylvania reported at its annual conference in Pittsburgh last week that fears of a surge in problem gambling that existed before the first casino opened in the state in 2006 simply have not materialized.
Experts from the council, a private, nonprofit group, reported that nothing indicates the clinicians have been bombarded by compulsive gamblers seeking treatment, and that attendance at Gamblers Anonymous meetings in the region actually is down from what it was a decade ago. Calls to the council’s problem gambling hotline also are down, the experts reported.
“In explaining it to the public, I like to say gambling addiction is a huge, enormous problem for a very small percentage of people,” said Elizabeth Lanza, director of compulsive and problem gambling for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Surveys show that while around 5 percent of adults are “susceptible” to gambling problems, the number of people that can be categorized as compulsive gamblers has remained steady since before casino, at 1-2 percent of all gamblers.
