ALBANY -- The New York State Gaming Commission heard testimony during a problem gambling forum. Both researchers and those who deal directly with gambling addiction. They're here to talk solutions and put a plan in place before more casino's come Upstate, including one right here in the Capital Region. The Upstate New York Gaming and Economic Development Act will bring four casinos upstate, but not without coming up with a plan to battle addictions first. Dr. Sarah Nelson has been crunching the numbers to see what is effective and what is not when setting up a plan to help prevent gambling from turning problematic. She presented those findings to the New York Gaming Commission. "The more exposure you have it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have more problems in the general population. What you need to worry about is problems among your most vulnerable populations when you think about gambling expansion," she says. She tells us one solution is self-exclusion, and right now that could be the best plan. "It's a way for someone to voluntarily sign up to exclude themselves from entering into a casino. So they sign a list and it says they won't try to enter, and if the casino catches them trying to enter they'll stop them." But, it's only a first step. We're told it's the only route that has been thoroughly studied, "The research shows that self exclusion can at least be effective as a first step down the path of recognizing that you might have a problem," says Dr, Nelson. Not everyone agrees those numbers are correct. "I'm here because I have that passion, I don't want to see more people hurt," says Gloria Bock, with the new York Council on Problem Gambling. Block and her husband Stephen are speaking out against bringing more casinos to the state. Those with the New York Council of Problem Gambling see the effects first had every day, and say research doesn't reflect reality. "There's a disconnect between research and what really happens in the real world. My personal experience after 35 years of working in this field is that when there is an increased opportunity of gambling whether it be a casino or new lottery game or race tracks that the number of people affected increases," says Stephen Block. "Anytime you have new availability and opportunity, you're going to have more problems. Now we don't know how many more problems we are going to have but it would just make sense that if it's there, you don't have to travel too far, or first time people going we're going to have more difficulties with it," adds Jim Manney, executive director of the New York Council on Problem Gambling. The gaming commission must first approve an applicants problem gambling plan, before issuing a gaming facilities license.

• published: 03 May 2014
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