Problem gambling group says compulsive habit harms New Mexico women

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 | 1:51 a.m.

"Women's health providers and women's groups really need to look at compulsive gambling as a women's health issue," said Daniel Blackwood, the council's executive program director.

According to quarterly reports, far more women than men are calling the council's hot line for compulsive gamblers.

In the first quarter of 2000, women accounted for about 69 percent of the calls to the help line, which offers crisis intervention and referrals for problem and compulsive gamblers.

Blackwood said women are twice as likely as men to seek help by calling crisis lines.

But, he said, the percentage of women calling the help line nevertheless reinforces a 1996 study paid for by the state Department of Health and the University of New Mexico that identified women as a high-risk group for problem gambling.

New Mexico's high poverty rate is a big factor in why women are drawn to slot machines, video poker and other gambling here, Blackwood said Tuesday.

"Women, especially in a poor state, will be vulnerable to escaping the pain they are in and the loneliness they feel, rather than in a state where conditions are better," he said.

The percent who say they are victims of domestic abuse or suffer from an alcohol or drug addiction has grown. In the first quarter of 2000, about 11 percent of callers said they had been victims of domestic abuse, compared to 6 percent in the last quarter of 1999.

Also, nearly a third of the callers this year have said they had some kinds of alcohol or drug dependency, compared to 24 percent in late 1999.

Blackwood said the amount of gambling debt reported by callers also is on the rise.

During the last quarter, callers identified as compulsive gamblers said they had accumulated debts averaging $22,212. Callers to the help line from October to December 1999 reported accumulating average debts of $18,650.

"That's a staggering figure when you consider the per-capita income basis of our state," he said.

Per-capita income in New Mexico was $19,936 in 1998, according to the most recent figures available from the state Department of Health.

Blackwood said he does not know how many New Mexicans are compulsive gamblers, but he estimates that about 5 percent of gamblers in the state are compulsive.