{"id":20188,"date":"2025-11-08T18:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T17:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=20188"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:05:53","slug":"ohio-state-center-leading-charge-against-problem-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/11\/ohio-state-center-leading-charge-against-problem-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio State center leading charge against problem gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opening statement by NDPA:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why are we addressing ‘gambling’ in a drug prevention website? We address it because gambling is but one of other behaviours which some professionals address under what they term a ‘family of compulsive behaviours’ – others in this ‘family’ will include, for example, sexual behaviour which may have become compulsive rather than ‘the norm’ (whatever that means in that context!)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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by\u00a0Franny Lazarus –\u00a0Ohio State News – Oct\u00a021,\u00a0<\/span>2025<\/span><\/p>\n

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Beginning in 2023, HECAOD expanded its portfolio to focus on a new campus issue: gambling.<\/span><\/div>\n
Photo: iStock \/ Getty Images Plus<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The ‘problem gambling’ issue can be devastating for college students<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Since opening at The Ohio State University in 2015, the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery\u00a0(HECAOD) has been developing college campus professionals who support alcohol and drug misuse prevention.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Beginning in 2023, HECAOD expanded its portfolio to focus on a new campus issue: gambling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that college students are at higher risk of experiencing harms from gambling is not a new idea,\u201d said Cindy Clouner, managing director. \u201cFolks doing work in the community gambling space have known that for a long time. But on campuses, it\u2019s not been on our radar.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

HECAOD established the Collegiate Problem Gambling Workgroup in 2023 to better learn what campuses are facing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was necessary to understand quickly if we were going to do this work well,\u201d said Jim Lange, the center\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe invited all the people that we could find. It began to snowball \u2013 people were bringing other folks they knew. It\u2019s been really helpful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the reasons that gambling can be a hard problem to track is that it\u2019s not an obvious one.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a quieter issue,\u201d Clouner said. \u201cWhen students are experiencing harm from alcohol, they may be throwing up, being loud and obnoxious, vandalizing things. It can be easier to identify someone who may be impaired by substances. With the advent of online gambling, though, a student could be gambling on their phone, and no one would know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gambling\u2019s long-term impacts can be crippling, Lange said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe see that financial stress is a barrier to completing a college degree,\u201d he said. \u201cA gambling issue can be a risk factor for suicidal ideation and attempts. When you get to that extreme, it is literally deadly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

HECAOD works closely with the Office of Student Life\u2019s\u00a0Student Wellness Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany campuses aren\u2019t resourced like we are,\u201d Clouner said. \u201cWe\u2019re lucky at Ohio State. We have a large wellness center with multiple staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Helping other schools develop resources is how HECAOD will use a $40,000 Agility Grant from the National Council on Problem Gambling, which the center received last year. HECAOD partners with the\u00a0National Consortium of State Coalitions\u00a0(NCSC) to reach campuses across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat group is made up of more than 30 statewide coalitions,\u201d Clouner said. \u201cThey all operate differently and have different goals, but they bring together campus professionals who are focused on health and well-being initiatives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

HECAOD will provide a turnkey training on collegiate gambling to NCSC members, who will then be able to deliver the training at their member institutions. Clouner said their goal is to reach 1,000 campuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere may be one person doing all the wellness work at a university,\u201d she said. \u201cPutting something else on their plate is unrealistic. This way, we\u2019ve established a go-to person in a region that multiple campuses can work with to develop knowledge and skills, provide resources and more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And these resources aren\u2019t just for students worried about their own gambling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes a friend is seeking help,\u201d Lange said. \u201cThey have a relationship with someone and they\u2019re concerned about that person. That\u2019s been identified as a really important component of the training of students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re concerned about yourself or someone else\u2019s behavior,\u201d Clouner said, \u201cthere are trained people who can help you get connected with resources.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/news.osu.edu\/ohio-state-center-leading-charge-against-problem-gambling\/<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opening statement by NDPA: Why are we addressing ‘gambling’ in a drug prevention website? We address it because gambling is but one of other behaviours which some professionals address under what they term a ‘family of compulsive behaviours’ – others in this ‘family’ will include, for example, sexual behaviour which may have become compulsive rather […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,63,62,133,40,19,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-brain-and-behaviour","category-education","category-gambling","category-prevention-research","category-usa","category-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20188"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20234,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20188\/revisions\/20234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}