Virginia is one of nine state lotteries that do not provide public funding for clinical treatment for problem gambling, according to a 2013 study funded by the Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators and the National Council on Problem Gambling. The study also estimated in 2013 that 139,000 people in Virginia had a gambling disorder.
The Virginia Lottery does contribute resources to support services, said lottery spokesman John Hagerty. By law every lottery ticket must display a phone number to the Virginia Problem Gambling Helpline. He added in 2016 the lottery spent about $50,000 on the helpline, printed pamphlets about gambling addiction and provided financial support to the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling.
However, noted Virginia Council on Problem Gambling President Carolyn Hawley, a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University, a call to the helpline doesn’t result in comprehensive treatment. She said even if someone calls a helpline or has access to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, those types of community support methods “can be highly effective, but addicts also need treatment.”
Hawley noted that type of clinical treatment requires trained experts and comes at a cost, which people with gambling addictions usually cannot afford, due to their problem. She said in 2015 about $533 million in lottery proceeds—about 29 percent of $1.84 billion in revenue– was directed to education. Hawley’s problem gambling organization recently operated on a budget of $5,000 and was staffed by volunteers. “I’m totally not against gambling, but I think we also need to allocate resources, realizing we are promoting and providing gambling, a behavior that does carry risks with it,” she said.
Hagerty said the Virginia Lottery does not take a stance on whether the legislature should allocate funds for treating problem gambling. In February 2011, the failed House Bill 1977 would have directed 10 percent of the lottery’s then-$26 million advertising budget, or $2.6 million, for prevention, education and treatment of gambling addiction.
Other states that do not legislate lottery funding for addiction treatment include Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, New Hampshire, Texas and Wyoming, plus the District of Columbia, although some of those states do contribute efforts to education and prevention efforts.
