A bipartisan bill in Virginia is aiming to create a new committee on gambling addiction and address the rising cases of people seeking assistance to cope with their gambling problems.

Gambling Expansion Comes at a High Cost

The bill proposed by Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, and Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, calls for the establishment of a Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Advisory Committee with the mission to facilitate collaboration between treatment providers and gambling operators to reduce problem gambling.

“As Virginia moves forward with the expansion of gaming, it’s important that we understand the ills that come with it,” said Sen. Reeves according to the report by Virginia Mercury.

The new committee should be established within Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) which is being tasked with dealing with addiction and mental health issues.

Chaired by the problem gambling prevention coordinator, the committee will feature representatives of all state agencies involved in gambling regulation and the gambling industry, which is required by law to direct people struggling with addiction toward external resources, as well as a representative of the Virginia Council on Problem Gambling, the nonprofit running the state’s gambling helpline.

The helpline funded by the Virginia Lottery registered a 143% increase in the number of calls from people seeking assistance over the last three years, raising questions about the high social cost of gambling expansion which made more forms of gambling available to Virginians and gambling easier.

In 2021, the gambling hotline registered an increase of 114% year-over-year, of which 74% were made by males, while the forms of gambling causing problems were slot machines at a casino or a racetrack with 17% and sports betting with 15%.

Young Adults Should Become a Priority

And while state and local governments are chasing the extra source of revenue from casinos, lottery, slot parlors, sports betting and horse racing, and the industry is booming, problem gambling is expanding and affecting minors and young people.

Using the findings of a survey conducted in 2021 which showed that more than 21% of those attending high school in Virginia had gambled or placed a bet in the past year, Krizek argued that young adults and their gambling problems should become a priority of the state lawmakers.

“We know from prevention research that people who begin gambling in their teens are at a higher risk of developing a problem with gambling,” he said, outlining that “one of the fastest growing groups to have gambling problems are young adults.”