Columnist Jeff German: Group gives more than promises for addicts

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

The phone lines were buzzing after Sunday's column on the need to devote more resources to problem gambling in the gambling capital of the world.

Most of the reaction came from Gamblers Anonymous members wanting to know why there was no mention of the work being done by their organization, which helps addicts recover through peer support.

The callers all agreed with the argument in this space that the wealthy casino industry, which is responsible for this problem, is doing very little to combat compulsive gambling.

If you listen long enough to Gamblers Anonymous members, you'll conclude that their self-supporting organization may be contributing more in its own humble way toward solving the problem than the entire gaming industry.

With all of its hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, the industry, as reported here Sunday, has only managed to fund one full-time treatment center devoted to compulsive gambling in Las Vegas. The cost is a mere $170,000 a year, which, mildly put, is embarrassing when you consider the magnitude of the problem here.

One local Gamblers Anonymous member, Rocco Davi, a 31-year-old waiter who decided not to remain anonymous, says Las Vegas has the largest number of compulsive gamblers in America, which shouldn't really surprise us.

To prove his point, Davi said, there were 92 weekly GA meetings in the Las Vegas area at last count, the most of any city in the country.

Davi said the number of meetings, which attract anywhere from 10 to 50 people, has grown from 75 a week when he joined Gamblers Anonymous two years ago. So either more people are becoming addicts or more people are seeking help. Or both things are happening.

One of the more disturbing local trends the gaming industry seems to be ignoring is the rising number of seniors getting hooked on gambling. They moved here with their nest eggs to enjoy their twilight years, but instead they're losing their money to video poker and slot machines at neighborhood casinos and supermarkets.

"A lot of retired people are getting crushed by this," Davi said. "It's terrible. They're coming to meetings and saying they don't know what they're going to do because they're on fixed incomes."

They can't afford to get clinical help, so they turn to Gamblers Anonymous to try to straighten out the last leg of their lives.

A quick look on the organization's website will find that meetings are set up here seven days a week, any hour of the day. At those meetings, which are free, gambling addicts benefit from the experiences of other members and follow a 12-step recovery program along the same lines as Alcoholics Anonymous.

About 1,000 Gamblers Anonymous members currently have at least one year in the program, but there are thousands of addicts not even participating.

Think how many more people could be reached if the casino industry became more responsible and took a greater interest in problem gambling.