Florida CCG wants funding for Gambling Addiction Treatment

The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling(FCCG) are calling out the State government today in hopes that the State will set aside funds that would go toward gambling addiction treatment. The State of Florida has seen an expansion of gambling revenues and taxes and the State only funds prevention, education and outreach programs. The FCCG wants more funding to help with compulsive gambling treatment and more access to help for citizens with gambling problems.

The FCCG was created in 1988 and since that time the State of Florida has seen a major gambling expansion. Several gambling options are available in Florida including: bingo, lottery games, Native American casinos, slot machines and now the soon to be Seminole and Miami-Dade buildings. There are also cruise ships that provide gambling activities as well as illegal gambling operations going on that pose a problem for gambling addicts.

A spokesperson for the FCCG stated: " Residents are already struggling from the ill effects of gambling and while the FCCG maintains a neutral stance, it cannot sit back quietly when the State to date has yet to support treatment for those negatively impacted, in which there are hundreds of thousands throughout Florida. Yesterday's approval of the slot machine referendum in Miami-Dade County, which allows slot machines at the county's dog and horse tracks, as well as Jai-Alai fronton, represents another significant expansion of gambling in the State."

The FCCG has also stated that within the last year they have received an increase of almost 25% in callers on slot machines gambling problems. The help lines are constantly busy and the FCCG needs more funds to help the citizens of Florida. "Any gambling expansion in the state should be accompanied by a requirement for funding for treatment and corresponding programs and research. Citizens can no longer wait. By statute, gambling facility operators are required to implement responsible gaming programs, as was done for the Broward slots," stated the FCCG spokesperson.