Nevada has proven successful establishing gambling courts as a way to treat those who commit nonviolent crimes to feed their compulsive gambling habits. The effort, an alternative to prison, could make its way to New Jersey, a state that’s treated its drug offenders that way for more than two decades.
The idea came up when Dan Trolaro, assistant executive director with the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling, appeared on the program “Hello, My Name Is Craig.” The radio show is hosted by Craig Carton, a recovering compulsive gambler.
“We know gambling is rampant in prison,” Trolaro said. “So for someone who struggles with this problem, putting them in prison when they were leading an otherwise law-abiding life may not be the best chance for their long-term recovery.”
Trolaro has sought the alternative for more than five years, according to NJ Online Gambling.
Former Nevada state judge Cheryl Moss supervised the Gambling Treatment Diversion Court program in Nevada from 2018 to 2020.
“There wasn’t much opposition to the idea, but there were questions about how overwhelmed we were going to be with cases,” said Moss, who was a family court judge for two decades.
But a lack of awareness led to only nine cases in the first two years.
“In my view, this absolutely has been successful,” Moss said. “It’s all about making changes. As a judge, you’re able to make those human connections. We had one young man, he couldn’t get a budget straight, and he kept jumping from one job to another. I assigned him a few projects, and he matured a lot.”
Moss said New Jersey could benefit from something similar, especially as sports betting flirts with $1 billion a month.
Unlike drug and alcohol treatment programs which receive funding on a federal level, gambling programs do not, Trolaro said. “The next three to five years are very concerning. We want to stay ahead of this.”
Carton said his show presents an honest discussion on the bad side of gambling.
“About 10 percent of people who gamble on a regular basis sadly go down the same rabbit hole that I went down,” he said.
Carton’s show led to an uptick in calls to the 1-800-GAMBLER help line from listeners and others who have a stake, Trolaro said.
