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Study shows gambling dangers
By Diane C. Lade The Sun-Sentinel March 20, 2004 DANIA BEACH - What started as a way for Mary Cano to soothe her grief turned into a habit that took her house, retirement savings and the life insurance policy her husband left her. "When I had money to gamble, it got to the point that I didn't care if I won or lost," Cano said Friday at the first statewide conference at the Wyndham Hotel on problem gambling among seniors. It was the first time the 71-year-old widow gave her full name when telling how she would spend hours in the Seminole casino near her house in the Clearwater area, connecting with no one but the slot machine twinkling in front of her. "I felt like I didn't need to exist any more," said Cano, who first started going to the casino 11 years ago on the way home from visiting the therapist helping her cope with her husband's death. It wasn't until she lost "thousands and thousands" of dollars and had to move in with a friend that she finally kicked her addiction with the help of Gambler's Anonymous. Gaming typically is seen as harmless -- and popular -- fun for Sunshine State retirees. Senior groups run bus trips to the racetrack and retirement communities sponsor gambling day cruises. The Legislature is considering a bill that would exempt "homes for the aged" from local regulations on bingo, a ubiquitous activity in nursing homes and senior centers. But officials with the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, started in 1988 with money from the Florida Lottery, began to realize from calls to its anonymous hotline that there was a more distressing side. "We were increasingly hearing about [seniors] maxing out their credit cards. We started to see how deep this problem was running for older adults," said council Executive Director Pat Fowler. A 2003 study commissioned by the council, which surveyed 1,260 Floridians age 55 and older, suggested one out of every 20 seniors struggles with gambling. The study by Gemini Research of Massachusetts estimated as many as 52,000 Florida seniors had gambling problems within the past year, and as many as 205,000 were at risk. The highest prevalence was among men, those who were divorced or separated and black and Hispanic seniors. "At their age, they have little hope of recovering from their financial loses," Fowler said. Some seniors, destitute and humiliated, have committed suicide. In 2002, the council created the first national consortium that brought professionals, researchers and recovering gamblers together to look for solutions. Now, the council is giving Broward County Elderly and Veterans Services Division a $25,500 grant to develop workshops and publications targeting senior gamblers. Division Director Stephen Ferrante said trained counselors will go anywhere seniors gather beginning in April, talking about gambling and offering to do screenings for anyone who thinks they might have a problem. "We could go to a senior center before they take their trip to the race track or casino, and talk about how to keep gambling within limits," Ferrante said. "Our role is not to stop seniors from engaging in gambling but helping them do it within recreational limits." If Broward's pilot program proves successful, Secretary Terry White of the Department of Elder Affairs hopes to offer it to other counties. Among the more intriguing results of the 2003 research was the high prevalence of gambling among those who had served in the armed forces. Forty-two percent of veterans said they were weekly gamblers, compared with 25 percent of seniors overall. James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control who served 30 years in the Army, suggested the high-risk environment makes gambling a common part of military life, and where retirees may have picked up the habit. As an officer in Vietnam, he remembers watching a month's pay rapidly changing hands while the soldiers waited for the helicopters that would take them into combat. "At that point in your life, you have a lot more immediate concerns than holding onto your money," said McDonough, who received an award Friday for his work fighting drug abuse. www.tcpalm.com/tcp/palm_beach_news/article/0,1651,TCP_1020_2745470,00.html |
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