Nevada to study problem gaming

Thursday, Sept. 24, 1998 | 11:09 a.m.

The Legislative Interim Finance Committee Wednesday allocated $150,000 to study compulsive gambling in Nevada.

Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said if the state doesn't take steps to research how widespread the problem may be, the federal government will move in and conduct its own study.

Dini said the federal government could impose a tax on the industry, which could get in the way of the state levying taxes on casinos.

"We should identify our own problem and solve it within our own state," said Dini, a casino owner.

Studies have produced radically different estimates of the number of problem gamblers. A Department of Human Resources report presented to the Legislature said one survey in Clark County in 1995 showed 7.9 percent of those contacted felt they might have a gambling problem.

If that percentage is true statewide, there could be 93,000 adults in Nevada with a gambling disorder.

A national study suggests the percentage is 1.29 percent, which would equate to 15,000 adults in Nevada.

Separately, the American Gaming Association today will issue a new study indicating suicide rates in gaming communities are no higher than the average for non-gaming communities.

The study was led by Richard McCleary, a professor at the University of California-Irvine. The AGA said his study found high suicide rates in Las Vegas and Reno are due to non-gaming factors.