Bill Text: NJ SR45 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges citizens of State to recognize compulsive gambling is a treatable disorder having negative consequences for individuals with the disorder.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Passed) 2010-06-11 - Filed with Secretary of State [SR45 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-SR45-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY R. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris)
Senator THOMAS GOODWIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Urges citizens of State to recognize compulsive gambling is a treatable disorder having negative consequences for individuals with the disorder.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging the citizens of the State of New Jersey to recognize that compulsive gambling is a treatable disorder having negative consequences for individuals with the disorder.
Whereas, Compulsive gambling afflicts men and women of every age, race, profession and background and when it disrupts an individual's life, it can lead to permanent, devastating consequences for the individual gambler; and
Whereas, Compulsive gambling usually begins when the person is young, and continues until it consumes the life of the gambler, destroying his or her family, alienating the individual from friends and relatives, and often resulting in financial catastrophe or destructive criminal activity, or both; and
Whereas, Individuals who suffer from compulsive gambling cannot control the impulse to gamble, even when they know it is hurting them or their loved ones; and
Whereas, Compulsive gamblers can also have a corrosive influence on the workplace when they are the ones organizing office betting pools and card games that draw in a number of individuals, thereby taking attention away from work, contributing to a lack of productivity and profit, and negatively impacting the lives and careers of the gamblers; and
Whereas, The American Psychiatric Association has classified compulsive gambling as a diagnosable and treatable disease characterized by a psychologically uncontrollable preoccupation and urge to gamble, which leads to the loss of productive time and money by the gambler; and
Whereas, Unless it is treated, compulsive gambling will reach the point where it compromises, disrupts and then destroys the gambler's personal and professional life, which further intensifies the gambler's behavior; and
Whereas, To the compulsive, gambling appears to offer an easy solution to some of life's most pressing problems, specifically, money shortages, lack of prestige or self-esteem, feelings of boredom or failure, hopelessness and defeat; and
Whereas, At the center of the disease is a certainty that the gambler must lose, and with the continued loses there is an increase in the problems that led to gambling in the first place, which leads in turn to more gambling, then more problems, and then finally to a point where the need to bet becomes the primary thought in the gambler's life; and
Whereas, Treatment for compulsive gambling begins when the gambler recognizes that he or she has a problem, asks for help to overcome the addiction and starts to regain control or his or her life; and
Whereas, There are many treatment options available to the gambler who seeks to quit, including 12-step programs similar to Alcoholics Anonymous and cognitive-behavior therapy that focus on changing unhealthy gambling behaviors, all of which have the goal of keeping the individuals in recovery and away from gambling; and
Whereas, It is fitting and proper that this House urge the citizens of the State of New Jersey to recognize that compulsive gambling is a treatable disorder which results in negative consequences for individuals with the disorder; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the citizens of the State of New Jersey to recognize that compulsive gambling is a treatable disorder, which results in negative consequences for individuals with the disorder.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary thereof, shall be transmitted to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, Inc., and all other similar organizations in this State that provide treatment and services for recovering compulsive gamblers.
STATEMENT
This Senate resolution urges the citizens of the State of New Jersey to recognize that compulsive gambling is a treatable disorder, which results in negative consequences for individuals with the disorder.
