By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Rudy Garza of Bella Vista is surprised no one in state government has called him.
Garza, the only counselor in Arkansas certified in gambling addiction treatment, said he has not heard from state officials about providing counseling or training, even though the kickoff of the state lottery is just five weeks away — and the architects of the lottery have promised that addiction treatment will be available for those who need it.
“I haven’t been contacted. You’re the first one who’s actually called me about it,” Garza told an Arkansas News Bureau reporter Friday.
The law setting up the lottery mandates that at least $200,000 in unclaimed prize money go the state Department of Health each year for treatment of gambling addiction and education about compulsive gambling disorder.
Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue has said that before unclaimed prize money begins accumulating, the lottery may provide funding for help for problem gamblers from its start-up budget. The Legislature has approved a $6 million loan to cover the lottery’s initial costs, to be repaid with lottery proceeds.
Arkansas currently has no state program for treating gambling addiction, but lottery officials met Thursday with state health officials to talk about starting one. Julie Munsell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said it was decided at the meeting that DHS’ Division of Behavioral Health Services will design the program.
“What the program looks like has not been defined but would likely include a hotline as well as referrals to local counselors,” Munsell said. “Representatives will appear next week before a legislative oversight committee to present some initial ideas about how the program would work. DBHS staff are also doing research on evidence-based practices so they can replicate proven models,” she said.
Until an Arkansas program is in place, Passailaigue has said the hotline number of the National Council on Problem Gambling in Washington will be posted wherever lottery tickets are sold.
And what happens when the hotline gets a call from someone in Arkansas?
“They give them my number, usually,” Garza said.
Lately, Garza has been training counselors in other states and has not been doing any actual counseling. He said he has been referring Arkansas patients to counselors in other states or to a Little Rock counselor, Bill Wilson, who has been trained to treat gambling addiction but is not certified by the National Council on Problem Gambling.
Other than Wilson, Garza said no counselor in the state is trained to treat gambling addiction, and Garza himself is the only person in the state qualified to train other counselors. That could be a problem, he said.
“If you’ve got the lottery coming here pretty soon … I’m just not quite sure that they’re prepared to be able to handle this clientele that they’re going to be getting,” Garza said.
About 3 percent to 5 percent of people develop a compulsive gambling problem, Garza said. Addictions to playing the lottery are not as prevalent as addictions to casino gambling, sports betting and betting on card games, but some lottery players do become addicted, most often to scratch-off games, he said.
“If it starts affecting your job, if it starts affecting your relationships with your family, your schooling, that’s when people start realizing it becomes a problem,” he said.
When asked why plans for a treatment program didn’t start sooner, lottery officials say creating the program isn’t the lottery’s responsibility. Health officials point to the lottery law.
“The legislation stipulates that the funding for these programs will come from unclaimed prize winnings, and we are told that winnings aren’t considered unclaimed until 180 days after selection,” Munsell said. “That means it would be at least six months after the first drawing before funding would be available.”
State Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, said he believes something needs to be in place to help problem gamblers on day one of the lottery. He acknowledged that an addiction isn’t something that develops instantly, but he said some Arkansans may already be developing addictions to other forms of gambling, and the lottery may exacerbate their problem.
Key said that until he asked a question about addiction treatment during a recent meeting of a legislative oversight committee, the issue didn’t seem to be “on anyone’s radar.”
“I feel like, had the question not come up at the meeting, that there may not be any discussion going on,” he said. “Now that I know there is discussion taking place, I’m happy that that’s going on and hopeful that it will result in a positive program.”
