Winners of First Problem Gambling Awareness Video Contest Announced

Contact: Julie Hynes, Prevention Specialist, Lane County Health & Human Services, 541.682.3928 or Julie.Hynes@co.lane.or.us 

UO Duck football players create public awareness video, win award for first Problem Gambling Awareness Video Contest held in Lane County

March 16, 2010 | Eugene, OR -- On the heels of Problem Gambling Awareness Week in Oregon, Lane County Prevention Program is announcing the award for winning video in the first ever Problem Gambling Awareness video contest.

The contest themed “Everyday People,” targeted all community members to increase awareness that any “everyday person” can develop a gambling problem.

The winners, Dustin Haines and Tyrone Radford, are not “just” everyday people, but University of Oregon students and part of the Ducks football team. Dustin and Tyrone have been educated about gambling and are aware that it doesn’t come without a cost.

“Gambling is a serious problem for thousands of people in Oregon and those in need of help should be notified that there is help out there,” said Dustin Haines. “Prevention is the best cure for people with gambling problems and we hope that our video will help get that message across.”

Haines added, “While making the video we realized how we could relate to gambling because of our competitive nature of always wanting to win that we have experienced while playing sports. But the risk of losing everything in gambling really opened our eyes of how those affected by gambling are in deep need of help. We had a great time making the video but it is a serious matter that we learned a lot about, and hope others are able to learn from by watching our video.”

March 7-13 was Problem Gambling Awareness Week in Oregon and throughout the nation.
Lane County efforts aimed to:  Educate the public that problem gambling is a serious public health issue facing thousands of community members in Lane County; to increase awareness that gambling is not a risk-free activity; and to highlight that treatment in Oregon is free, confidential, and effective for problem gamblers and their family members.

Because of the “viral” nature of online videos and the potential for awareness building at very little cost, the Lane County Problem Gambling Advisory Committee, in conjunction with Lane County Health & Human Services, decided to hold a video contest.

Julie Hynes, Lane County’s problem gambling prevention coordinator, said that organizers hoped that the video would be spread widely from its YouTube site, www.youtube.com/preventionlane, and other social media networks, including its Facebook page. 

“What we love about Dustin and Tyrone’s video,” said Hynes, “is that they help increase awareness about the problem and help available, while sharing their message in a fun way. They don’t even need to use casino or online gambling in order to show what happens. Dustin’s character plays a gambler who is highly competitive and keeps ‘chasing’ his losses as he believes he can win. This is very characteristic of many problem gamblers.”

There is help for people with gambling problems. The Oregon legislature, realizing the potential addictive effects of gambling, dedicated 1 percent of lottery revenues to address problem gambling. Though revenues are down and funding to problem gambling services is threatened, Oregon’s programs are working harder than ever to let people know there is still help available.

Lane County’s gambling treatment program, Emergence, provides gambling addiction treatment services to problem gamblers and their family members at no cost. Free and confidential help is available by calling the 24-hour toll-free gambling help-line at 1-877-MY-LIMIT, or by going to www.1877mylimit.org.

Problem Gambling in Oregon
The following information illustrates some key information about problem gambling in Oregon, as reported by 1,861 problem gamblers enrolled in Oregon’s gambling treatment programs from July 2008 – June 2009 (Oregon Department of Human Services, 2010):

• The average gambling debt was $32,000 per client.
• 34 percent had alcohol-related problems.
• 38 percent reported committing illegal acts to obtain gambling money.
• Half (48 percent) had suicidal thoughts and more than 9 percent had attempted suicide within the past six months.
• Nearly 64 percent of the problem gamblers who enrolled in treatment reported their game of preference was video poker followed by video line games and slot machines at 12 percent each.
• Problem gamblers reported that their primary gambling location was Lottery retailers (75.9 percent) followed by Indian gaming centers and casinos (13.8 percent).
• Those entering treatment in Oregon had an estimated combined gambling-related debt of more than $48.4 million.