Looking to increase the visibility of gambling addiction in the eyes of the state? If so, Minnesota’s Compulsive Gambling Advisory Committee, which meets virtually every other month, wants you.
The committee consists of 14 positions, five of which are providers. The remaining positions are reserved for those who have an interest in prevention and increasing awareness of gambling disorder. This includes those with lived recovery experience and people from community agencies who work with populations vulnerable to gambling addiction. Beyond the 14 positions, anyone from the general public is welcome to be present.
“Our biggest challenge is getting more voices to the committee meetings,” says Craig Johnson, LADC, director of the Gambling Treatment Program at Club Recovery and chair of the committee. “We’re working to revitalize previous connections, including those with the Minnesota Lottery and Minnesota Department of Corrections. We want to bring together a wide variety of voices that can speak to the gambling treatment and awareness needs of the community.”
The committee’s charter, recently updated by Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS) for the first time since 2013, is to provide expertise to DHS on the nature of community needs related to treatment, prevention and awareness. The committee also weighs in on legislative efforts and was quite involved with recent sports gambling legislation. [The legislation didn’t pass but will be revisited next year].
Another goal of the committee is to raise gambling disorder to a more equal footing with substance use disorder within the state’s structure. “We only have 19 gambling treatment providers whereas there are approximately 2,500 LADCs in the state who help those with alcohol and substance use disorder,” says Craig. “We need to have greater numbers of gambling providers to ensure we can adequately assess and treat those with gambling disorder.”
Craig is encouraged by the increased structure put forward by DHS to manage the state’s gambling program. He notes there are now five people from the state dedicated to working with the committee, providing more consistency and continuity to address addiction treatment in Minnesota.
Committee meetings are open to anyone who’s interested. However, only official committee members can vote.
If you or someone you know is interested in participating in committee meetings, please email Craig Johnson at Cjohnson@clubrecoveryllc.com for the Zoom link and related information.