Online gambling was legalized in Michigan in January 2021. Last year, the state’s commercial and tribal casinos reported a combined $1.1 billion in earnings from online gaming and sports gambling. Of that total, $209 million went to the state, $59 million to the city of Detroit and $22 million to local governments.
Only a small fraction, $1 million, went to the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund which provides problem gambling services.
Alia Lucas, Gambling Disorder Program specialist with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said, “What you want to look at is not just the amount of money that’s allocated to this, but how do we use those funds?”
Some of the money supports the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline, which took 218 gambling-related calls in December 2020, the month before online gambling launched. In February, the first month after online gambling debuted, that number more than doubled to 563. In 2020, the helpline answered 1,591 calls and more than 3,640 in 2021, which resulted in only an additional 104 treatment referrals.
Lucas said, “I think it’s going to take a little more time before we’re able to actually use the numbers as a definitive measure to determine if this increased access to gambling is significantly increasing or propelling gambling disorder activity.” She added, “People won’t often acknowledge that they have a gambling disorder, because it’s perceived as an issue with lack of control and a lack of self-discipline.”
Lucas explained an individual who phones the helpline immediately is connected to a master-level clinician who assesses the caller for a possible gambling disorder. The clinician asks 17 questions, including, “Do you find yourself lying about the amount of gambling you do?” and “Are you gambling more to cover for your losses?”
Callers who answer yes to five or more questions are considered problem gamblers and directed to further treatment, including up to 12 counseling sessions with a clinician. Henry Williams, executive director at the Michigan Gaming Control Board, said, “It’s just so convenient and safe for people to be able to gamble from their device. They don’t have to leave home.”
Officials from the MDHHS, MGCB and state lottery meet monthly to address problem gambling issues. Lucas said the main focus now is messaging. “What happens if we have more money to put into our media campaigns to just increase the prevalence of our messaging as well? Not to counter but just to make sure, ‘Yeah, you can do this, but if you need help, you can also reach out to us for help as well.’” She added, “Quite honestly, what we’re focusing our prevention efforts towards now are individual as young as middle school and high school students.”
