Gambling a growing problem for college students, says UA clinician

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat A bill has been introduced in Arizona which would raise the legal gambling age at tribal casinos from 18 to 21.

University of Arizona Clinical and Psychological Services clinician Deborah Cox-Howard said gambling addictions are a growing problem among college-age students.

"They (students) get caught into that loop," Cox-Howard said. "I only see the problem getting worse."

The psychological crisis center treated two UA students for gambling addictions this year, Cox-Howard said. The rise of Internet gambling and the growing similarities between arcades and video gambling contribute to the problem, she said.

Cox-Howard touted a state Senate bill that would have raised the gambling age from 18 to 21 as a beneficial deterrent to student addictions.

But the bill died in Agricultural Resources Committee and never reached the full Senate.

Committee chairman Sen. John Wettaw, R-Flagstaff, opposed the bill on the grounds that 18 to 20-year-olds are mature enough to gamble.

"If you're old enough to vote, you should be old enough to buy a lottery ticket," Wettaw said.

Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, said she introduced the bill in an effort to save UA students and Arizonans from the second-most-common addiction in America.

"We have a serious problem that is beginning to mushroom in Arizona and across the nation," Johnson said. "I am very much against gambling - period - but adults are more mature."

The bill's authors, who introduced the measure for the third consecutive year, vowed to reintroduce the proposal next year. Johnson said she never has problems passing the measure in the House, but the Senate always becomes a roadblock.

"We were able to get this bill out of the House," Johnson said.

Johnson said that Arizona Gov. Jane Hull agreed to sign the bill if it passed the Senate. But age restrictions would not have been enacted until 2003, when the state re-negotiates a compact with statewide Native American tribes.

Desert Diamond Casino manager Ned Norris Jr. said the venue's business would not be seriously harmed because its target audience is 55 and older.

"I don't think the impact will be that significant," Norris said, adding that the tribes took a neutral stance during the bill's move through the House and into the Senate.