Maryland report highlights emerging statewide problem gambling behaviour
Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling details six recommendations for improving Free State’s responsible gambling approach
Maryland’s efforts to combat problem gambling in the state have been called into question by a new report evaluating the performance of the state’s Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling.
The report, conducted by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability and commissioned by the Maryland legislature’s Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee, looked at the conduct of the Center in highlighting problem gambling in the state.
It also utilized study data dating back to 2020, which suggested as many as 405,000 people in Maryland, roughly 8.6% of the population, had experienced problem gambling at some point in their life as of 2020, with $4.5bn gambled in the state in 2022 alone.
The national mean for problem gambling ranges between 4% and 5%. Between 2020 and 2022, approximately 2% of this number sought help from state-available resources, including the Center of Excellence.
“Prevalence studies suggest that Marylanders who have ever had a gambling disorder may be in the hundreds of thousands, while the number of help-seekers assisted by the Center number in the low thousands,” the report stated.
In order to counter the rising problem gambling rates in the state, the report calls for more timely sharing of data across agencies in Maryland as part of a range of recommendations to boost support efforts.
These include a revamp of the state’s voluntary self-exclusion register and increasing the amount of contact between the Center and those who choose to self-exclude, as well as diversifying the sources of revenue used to bolster the state’s problem gambling fund.
In addition, a revision of the Center’s website to include search resources for no-cost treatment-provider networks is also being mooted as a possible way of increasing the effectiveness of the state’s problem gambling support efforts.
Lastly the report calls on two separate entities, the Behavioral Health Administration and the state’s Administrative Service Organization, to provide regular updates on accessible support providers and the levels of claims for problem gambling treatment services in the state.
The report follows the legalization of online sports betting in the Free State in November 2022.
Responding to the report, Maryland’s Department of Health has agreed to implement all of the recommendations made, beginning with the revisions to the website revisions, which will take effect from August 31.