Columnist Jeff German: Finally, gamblers getting help

Friday, June 10, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

Ken Templeton is one of those rare people within the gaming industry who has a conscience.

"I have felt guilty for years that I have this slot route business that does really well and there could be people who suffer from patronizing the machines at my locations," he says. "But I feel everything is even now. If somebody has a gambling problem, they can get treatment."

Thanks to Templeton's persistence, Nevada and its wealthy gaming industry have joined the rest of the world in recognizing the importance of providing assistance to those addicted to gambling.

The Legislature this week passed a bill that sets aside $2.5 million in slot machine taxes to create the state's first-ever fund to treat problem gamblers. Gov. Kenny Guinn is expected to sign the measure any day now.

Templeton's conscience, it seems, has rubbed off on state and gaming industry leaders who have done little over the years to help repair the thousands of lives the industry has destroyed.

The local businessman -- who chairs the board of the Problem Gambling Center, the only such private clinic in Las Vegas -- rallied the governor, lawmakers and industry executives to the cause in Carson City.

The Nevada Resort Association, the industry's political arm, and the major gaming companies -- including Harrah's Entertainment, Station Casinos, MGM Mirage, Boyd Gaming Group and International Game Technology -- all testified in support of the legislation.

"They recognized that it needed to be done and that it was the right time to do it," Templeton says.

Dr. Robert Hunter, the clinical psychologist who runs the Problem Gambling Center, shares Templeton's elation over the passage of the bill, calling it a "historic" moment for Nevada.

"This means it will be easier for people to acknowledge and get help for gambling problems," he says. "Fewer people are going to suffer in silence."

Christine Drew was one of those silent sufferers.

She lost her well-paid job as a senior management analyst for the city's Planning and Development Department two years ago after she was caught embezzling $10,155 from petty cash to fuel her video poker habit.

"I spent so many years looking for help and never found the help I needed until it was too late," she says.

But Drew was one of the lucky ones. She credits Hunter and his clinic with turning her life around.

Today she's handling the clinic's business affairs and has dedicated her new life to helping other addicts like herself.

And like so many others who have struggled with this affliction, Drew is excited that the state is finally allocating money for treatment.

One of the best parts of the legislation is that it allows the gaming industry to make private donations to make up for all those years of neglect.

That means the fund can grow and help even more people.

"This is a real accomplishment," says Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling in Washington. "We think it's going to put Nevada on the leading edge."

Whyte, however, says it's only a start.

"It's going to take a really broad effort from the government, the industry and advocates to make sure this program meets the needs of everybody in Nevada," he says. "It's a pretty big challenge."

But it's a challenge that can be met when you've got a conscience.