About a week ago Thom Cole wrote a good article in the Santa Fe New Mexican about the failure of the state to take gambling addiction seriously. I thought it would be useful to reveal more details about the state’s failure, so I wrote this op-ed for the Albuquerque Journal that appeared today. It’s not just that the state fails to do a good job of attacking this enormous health problem (state studies since 1997 have indicated that there are between 35,000 to 45,000 problem gamblers in the state), the health department does not even recognize the problem. I hope you will read this article and encourage your state legislators to hold legislative hearings next month to remedy this problem.
To contact your legislator open the “Find Your Legislator by Address” page by clicking here. On the “Political Body” field you can scroll down to pick the house or the senate, then add your address in the following field. That will bring up a field with your legislator’s picture and name. You can then click on his/her name and it will take you to their legislative page where you can find their contact information.
The most effective contacts are by phone, so you could call your legislator at their home, since they won’t be at their Santa Fe office until mid-January. An email would also probably get to them. You could say something like, “I read the article about problem gambling in the Albuquerque Journal (or the SF New Mexican), and think that it is disgraceful that the state does nothing to help problem gamblers. Would you please do what you can to get legislation moving to get the health department to create an office that deals with gambling addiction?”
Stop Predatory Gambling New Mexico will be at the legislature and will use what influence we have to get legislation moving to get the state engaged in helping our citizens.
Thank you for your help,
Dr. Guy C. Clark, chairman
Stop Predatory Gambling New Mexico
