Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Mary Richards reportingResearchers are testing a new drug in Utah to see if it helps pathological gamblers. It's believed about four-percent of all gamblers are addicted.
"I ended up winning quite a bit of money one time I gambled and that got me hooked," Josh says. He says he has a gambling problem, losing $20,000 within a year at the tables in Las Vegas while he was a UNLV student.
"As soon as I would lose some money, I would sit there and try and chase it and try and get it back," he says.
Josh is now participating in a Radiant Research study, testing a drug for his problem, "I've had friends try to persuade me not to gamble and different things, tried Gambler's Anonymous, but it seemed like I'd always go back."
The study's medical director, Dr. James Ferguson, says the drug could be a tool to help gamblers that cannot stop.
"That thrill when you're actually winning is like an addiction," Ferguson says. "And what they've discovered is this compound will block that thrill, so you don't get any real high from it. You're more like the non-problem gambler."
The study is taking place in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.
"If you went right now on an investigative finding and looked at license plates in Wendover, 90 percent are from Salt Lake, "Ferguson says. "If you go to Mesquite, same thing."
Researchers say compulsive gambling is a growing problem.
"They can't slow down. They lose their house. They get a divorce. They borrow money from the mafia, commit crimes - prostitution, bank robberies," says Ferguson.
Josh says he's been taking the drug for six weeks. He says he feels it's helping, "Right now I'm doing pretty well on the medication they have me on. And it's lessened my thoughts, I guess, on gambling."
Ferguson says all subjects are receiving counseling and support aside from the medication. Researchers would like more participants to make the study stronger.
