How Virginia is addressing the dark side of gambling

“Problem gambling is not just a personal problem; it’s a family, community and state problem. One individual that struggles with gambling-related harm negatively impacts eight to 10 other individuals,” Brianne Doura-Schawohl, the former vice president of U.S. Policy and Strategic Development for global harm prevention consultancy Epic Risk Management and now head of Doura-Schawohl Consulting LLC, said at a recent meeting of the newly created Joint Subcommittee to Study the Feasibility of Establishing the Virginia Gaming Commission in Richmond.

Doura-Schawohl warned the panel that about 5% of people who actively gamble will suffer from problematic gambling at some point.

“There are biological, psychological and sociological factors that feed into this. Given that the commonwealth has traditionally done nothing to address this public health issue, I’m very concerned about the current state of problem gambling within our jurisdiction,” she said.

According to a 2022 review published by the scientific Journal of Addiction, globally 1 in every 400 adults has sought help for gambling problems, either in the past 12 months or at some point in their lifetime, Doura-Schawohl said. In the United States, an estimated 1% to 2% of the adult population struggles with problematic gambling, and about 5% percent of all those who actively gamble will suffer from this addiction, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Since the opening of several new casinos in the state and the proliferation of online gambling technologies — such as sports betting apps and virtual casinos — the popular pastime has become easier and more enticing for young adults, and lawmakers are aware of the challenges that require the government to act.

“As the Virginia Gaming Commission starts to form, between myself and our colleagues in the General Assembly, the problem gambling is probably one of the foremost issues that we are trying to get a handle on and make sure that the resources are there,” said Sen. Bryce Reeves, a Spotsylvania County Republican and the committee chairman.

Because there are currently no federal funds designated for problem gambling treatment or research — unlike the billions of dollars in funding for alcohol, tobacco and drug addiction — the General Assembly last year passed legislation creating a new Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Advisory Committee within the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to address and mitigate gambling addiction in Virginia.

The legislature previously created a Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund to help pay for “counseling and other support services for compulsive and problem gamblers, developing and implementing compulsive and problem gambling treatment and prevention programs, and providing grants to support organizations that provide assistance to compulsive and problem gamblers.”

Advocates for combating problem gambling, including Doura-Schawohl, have been pushing to create a state fund even before a 2021 survey found that Virginia ranked 27th in the nation with a per capita spending of just 27 cents on measures countering the effects of the addiction.

“I think more shocking was when I did an estimate for the annual cost we as the taxpayers are incurring because we are not funding this efficiently, including divorce, bankruptcy, crime, health care for suicidal ideations, depression and anxiety,” Doura-Schawohl told the committee. “We are talking about individuals who are in the throes of an addiction which often compromises their finances.”

Substance abuse is 338 times more funded in Virginia than problem gambling services, but it is only seven times more prevalent within the state’s communities, Doura-Schawohl said. “So we are talking about something that is pretty rampant yet it doesn’t have nearly the funds that it needs.”

Reeves said that in Virginia these efforts are already underway but still in the early stages.

“The team that we have on the ground working on this is doing a phenomenal job. One of the primary goals of this committee is to strictly highlight problem gambling, which is why we have to make sure to put in the effort to counter the human cost and try to fix that,” Reeves said.

Del. Paul Krizek, a Fairfax Democrat, a committee member and the sponsor of the support fund legislation, said because there is no federal money for problem gambling prevention or treatment, it is on the state to step up and create more awareness.

“I think we need to do a better job at public health messaging, and I look forward to the creation of this new agency that will put all gambling regulation in one agency,” Krizek said.

At its next meeting in November, the committee is set to vote on a recommendation to create the new independent state agency — dubbed the Virginia Gaming Commission — to consolidate the regulatory powers over online gambling, charity gaming, bingo, live horse racing, fantasy contests, the state’s five licensed casinos and 10 licenses for Rosie’s Gaming Emporium.

Krizek said that bringing the problem gambling issue into that agency will be an important step, “because the primary reason for why we need this agency is for public safety purposes, that’s the primary responsibility that we have as legislators.”

Problem gambling is a big enough issue that the state should take it seriously, Krizek added. “I thought that was a wake-up call for all of us; I don’t think anybody realized that. We have to use our money wisely, and having it in one agency will help. The idea is we can’t ignore the dark side of gambling, and one of the things we learned is that more suicides occur with problem gamblers than with any other addiction.”

A survey by the National Council on Problem Gambling found that sports betting was the most problematic among all forms of gambling, with twice the rate in problematic play than that of other types.

“We’re not talking about tendencies compared to nongamblers, but these are new individuals,” Doura-Schawohl said. “Most of these are male bettors. There are, of course, females that are engaged in sports betting, but really I am worried most about the male, 18- to 24-year-old demographic in particular.”

Dr. Carolyn Hawley, the president of the Virginia Problem Gambling Council and an associate professor in mental health counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Allied Health Professions, said the fact that the increasing number of younger people taking advantage of the council’s gambling helpline at 1-888-532-3500 in recent years is of particular concern. From January through June alone, the helpline had 967 intakes, far surpassing last year’s 898 total intakes.

“We see a huge demographic shift where people right at the beginning of their careers are now being devastated by developing a gambling disorder. The impact that problem gambling has on people, on their families, on their work and on their schools is significant,” Hawley said. “When you get people this early in their lives that are experiencing this condition, it’s such a setback.”

New forms of online gambling are a special concern because of their convenience, Hawley added.

“I’m a college professor, and I see it with kids and young adults in the classroom. I see how they are on their phones and everybody is wagering, and it’s become such an acceptable recreational activity. People start out with their friends and their families, and we also see it with families and their young kids and parents thinking this is a safer behavior than say alcohol or drugs. They don’t recognize that this is a similar conditioning, and there can be consequences for people who have developed problems with this behavior.”

Krizek, the delegate from Fairfax, said that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have already agreed to introduce legislation ahead of the 2025 General Assembly session to ensure that, going forward, “everybody who will have skin in the game” will pay into the problem gambling fund.

“And they want to,” Krizek said, adding that “the casinos are already doing a lot of work, and the online sports betting businesses put in 2.5%, which is the highest of any group. But we can certainly raise that amount, and we have to figure out the best way to raise that money.”

The current problem, Krizek continued, is that these efforts remain inconsistent because they lack the coordination by a single state-run agency — a void that the new Virginia Gaming Commission is designed to fill, especially in light of the many new gambling technologies emerging nationwide.

“There is new gambling coming online, there is artificial intelligence, virtual reality, there are tons of ways for the dopamine in your system to be activated. I mean, the idea of gaming is to take your money, and many of us cannot afford to lose too much money,” Krizek said.

However, for casual gamblers who wager simply for entertainment purposes especially at casinos, that approach is fine, he said.

“But we don’t want to have casinos on every street corner, and we have to be mindful of those people that aren’t good at saying no, that cannot afford to lose the money and who aren’t really gambling for entertainment purposes anymore.”

Instead, Virginia needs to stand up an agency with the sole purpose of focusing on gaming and gambling, while being a one-stop shop for the commonwealth, “and that doesn’t do its own gambling, like the Lottery selling tickets,” Krizek said. “It would be an agency that’s not conflicted at all.”

But until the Virginia Gaming Commission is set up — which is currently planned by 2027 if approved by the legislature during next year’s session — the commonwealth will have to step up and provide some up-front funding to counter problem gambling, said Reeves.

“Paul and I will have to make a presentation to the money committees in both the House and the Senate to bring this to fruition, because the entity has not been up yet and we can’t start pulling the money out of the gambling institutions as of yet,” he said. “But eventually, gambling will pay for all of this and more.”

Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Commissioner Nelson Smith said in an email to the Virginia Mercury that cross-agency collaboration “has been and will continue to be key in our prevention and treatment efforts.”

The department, Virginia’s Community Services Boards and the Virginia Department of Education are partnering to develop a curriculum for schools to help increase problem gambling awareness and help students build financial skills, Smith said.

“We are also working to increase merchant education about problem gambling and provide tools and resources. When it comes to treatment for problem gambling, we’ve seen tremendous progress with the addition of peer support from individuals with lived experience. Working with peers helps individuals dealing with problem gambling issues understand that they aren’t alone and recovery is possible.”

Hawley said that she was grateful for the ongoing efforts by the General Assembly and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to raise awareness about the dangers of problem gambling.

“They have put forward so much legislation that impacts us and the work that we are doing in trying to minimize harm,” she said. “I think we have to have a balance between understanding what are the economic benefits of an activity and balance that with what is a potential harm for that. We do have a responsibility to protect the citizens and families of the commonwealth, because ultimately we all pay.”

This story was originally published in the Virginia Mercury.