New York pumps up gambling treatment as it expands gambling
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ALBANY, N.Y. — Thousands of new slot machines and table games debuting this month as part of New York state’s casino growth spurt are bringing not only more chances to gamble, but also millions of dollars more to help problem gamblers.
The openings of the del Lago Resort & Casino in the Finger Lakes on Wednesday and Schenectady’s Rivers Casino and Resort next week will pump money into state treatment and awareness programs under $500 annual licensing fees assessed on each slot machine and table game. The fees should eventually add about $3.3 million a year to state gambling programs, a dramatic increase in such funding.
“The norms just can’t be that we have new casinos and look at the economic development that’s going to be,” said Jim Maney, executive director of the New York Council on Problem Gambling. “With the expansion of anything, the expansion of gambling, comes the probability that there’s going to be an increase in folks that are having difficulties with it.”
State lawmakers introduced a per-game fee in the law that authorized four new upstate New York casinos. The fees, similar to assessments in some other states, are expected to generate $3.3 million once all four casinos are open. The state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services currently spends $2.6 million annually for gambling treatment and prevention.
