12A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2016
Gambling: ‘I don’t know how to break the cycle’
Continued from Page 1A
reality. Unfortunately, the
counselor said, problem gam-
blers face reality by thinking
a big Zin Zill ¿[ their shame
and depression.
“And around it goes,”
Edwards said.
To break the cycle, problem
gamblers must create barriers,
develop a support system and
seek treatment.
Edwards teaches coping
skills, relapse prevention and
tools to stop gambling. Her
program also offers support
with relationships, grief and
¿nancial stability.
Limited resources
As the only support in Clat-
sop County, Edwards wants to
add another group session to
have sessions twice a week.
Eventually, she would like to
get a local Gambler’s Anony-
mous meeting up and running.
With limited resources
available, Jewell said, she
attends Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings to get e[tra help.
“It’s the same struggles,”
she said.
During her second meeting
with Edwards, Jewell asked
for a referral to inpatient treat-
ment. Last June, she checked
into Bridgeway Recovery Ser-
vices in Salem, a mental health
and addictions treatment facil-
ity. She lived there for 43 days
in a house with seven other
adults.
She focused on other activ-
ities that make her happy, such
as drawing and painting. She
shared her art with the instruc-
tors at the recovery center.
“It was relieving to know
that there are others who relate
to this addiction,” she said.
Youth prevention
Looking back, Jewell said,
she recalls gambling as a seem-
‘It really does happen to
me where I get to the point
where I want to give up. I
feel bad about myself and
guilty and really rotten. I
beat myself up a lot from it.’
Christina Porter
She lost about $8,000 gambling
ingly harmless part of grow-
ing up. As a kid, she remem-
bers playing poker at friends’
homes. They would often set-
tle arguments by saying, “How
much you want to bet?” She
is seeing the same tenden-
cies to gamble in the younger
generation.
Clatsop County Commis-
sioner Sarah Nebeker, who
serves on the county’s Human
Services Advisory Council,
said e[panding youth under-
standing of gambling addic-
tion should be a goal of the
community.
“I’m very concerned about
it.” Nebeker said. “We have
a whole generation of young
people coming up that could
be a whole new crop of addicts
for gambling as these machines
become more enticing and we
depend on it for revenue.”
A reason there is such a
low number of people in treat-
ment, Nebeker said, is because
the addiction is not discussed.
Treatment providers call it the
“hidden addiction.”
“Until we have an open dia-
logue about all of these issues
and speak freely about it,
everyone is going to think it’s
just them,” Nebeker said.
Relapses
While easy availability and
entertainment are some ways
people get hooked, Porter said,
gambling was an escape from
her stress at home. Sitting at a
video poker machine put her
in a trance where she forgot
about her troubles. However,
every time she lost money,
which was often, she got dev-
astated to the point of turning
suicidal.
“It really does happen to me
where I get to the point where
I want to give up,” Porter said.
“I feel bad about myself and
guilty and really rotten. I beat
myself up a lot from it.”
Through treatment and the
support of her friends and fam-
ily, Porter is down to gambling
once a week. She has not gam-
bled since last Wednesday,
which she hopes is her last day.
“The group is helping. I used
to gamble every day if I had
money, even $2,” she said.
Jewell has struggled to
abstain from gambling.
In December, she was one
day shy of si[ months when
she relapsed. Since the obses-
sion came back, she lost
$1,600.
Despite all Jewell learned
in treatment, she spent her
lunch break Monday play-
ing video poker at the Silver
Salmon downtown. She said
she put in $20 and was up
$160 when she decided to keep
playing. She left the restaurant
down more than $300, and was
late returning to work.
“I don’t know how to break
the cycle,” she said.
Gearhart: Planning Commission has another public hearing set for April 14
Continued from Page 1A
systems, as Clatsop County Pub-
lic Health Environmental Health
Supervisor Mike McNickle pro-
vided an overview of the city’s
septic systems, cesspools and
gravity waste-treatment systems.
Many septic tanks, particu-
larly steel ones installed 40 or
50 years ago, are disintegrat-
ing, he said. Others are over-
loaded or inef¿cient.
Since Gearhart residents
use groundwater as their drink-
ing supply, more short-term
rental visitors could play a role
in the public’s clean water sup-
ply, he said.
Tanks for two people
should be pumped every ¿ve
to seven years, McNickle said,
and a family of four should
pump every three to ¿ve years,
depending on usage. Five loads
of wash could put a home at 75
percent of the 275-gallon daily
water-usage average.
Homeowner limits
The number of bedrooms
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Kerry Smith, Richard Owsley and Dianne Widdop at the Gearhart Planning Commission and City Council work session.
rather than the size of the bath-
room determines a homeown-
er’s limit, he added.
City Planner Carole Con-
nell recommended a ma[imum
of 10 people per short-term
rental stay, including people
sleeping in tents or RVs on the
property, because “those peo-
ple use the facilities,” she said.
“It has to do with the water
usage.”
Septic inspection would be
required and cesspools would
be prohibited from licensing at
transient rental properties, of¿-
cials agreed.
In addition to septic mon-
itoring, of¿cials addressed
parking concerns, garbage
pickup and emergency safety.
Adequate parking should
be a consideration, commis-
sioners suggested, and could
be limited to one car per rental
bedroom.
Property owners could be
required to provide sideyard
garbage pickup and informa-
tion about recycling for their
guests.
Rules may mandate emer-
gency go-bags and ensure a
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration radio
in case of tsunami and earth-
quake scenarios.
Commissioner Terry Graff
urged an occupancy cap
and
minimum-length-stay
requirement.
“If you’re going to do
something to control the rental
problem, the only way you’re
going to do it is with an occu-
pancy cap and minimum rental
stays,” Graff said.
“That’s the most important
reason we’re here,” Councilor
Paulina Cockrum said.
The Planning Commis-
sion will continue meeting
to develop short-term rental
licensing guidelines, with a
public hearing April 14.
Super SPECIALS
NEW
2015 CHRYSLER
200 LX
2015 DODGE
NEW CHALLENGER
S SXT
X T
#375009
75009
#395039
9-speed auto,
Uconnect.
MSRP $23,190
- Lum’s Discount $ $1,700
, 00
Final l price
Fi
$ 21 , 490
5.7L Hemi V8,
Uconnect.
MSRP $36,375
- Lum’s Discount $2,553
53
Final l price
Fi
i
$ 33 , 822
2015 JEEP NEW 2016 DODGE
NEW PATRIOT
JOURNEY SE
LATITUDE
#385045
6 speed auto
6-speed
auto,
leather trim.
MSRP $28,270
- Lum’s Discount $4,000
000
Finall price
$ 24 , 270
#39600
#39
#396005
60055
3.6L V6, AWD,
Uconnect.
MSRP $29,925
- Rebate $2,750
- Lum’s Discount $1,000
00
Final price
$ 26 , 175
2016 RAM NEW 2015 JEEP
NEW LAR
LARAMIE,, C CREW
R E W C CAB,
AB, 4X4
CHEROKEE LTD
#396030
8-spd. auto, 3.0L
V6 EcoDiesel
MSRP $55,390
- Rebate $3,500
- Lum’s Discount $5,500
#38504
#38
#385049
50499
Final price
$ 46 , 390
4x4, luxury group,
gro
oup,
off
ff -road.
d
MSRP $52,795
- Rebate $2,000
- Lum’s Discount $3,650
50
Finall price
$ 47 , 145
www.lumsautocenter.com
www
lumsautocenter com
2 01 5
888-488-4260
1605 SE Ensign Ln
Warrenton
*0% APR for 75 months on OAC offered on certain makes and models based on approved credit through Chrysler Capital. Manufacturer rebates vary by make and model. Rebates do
not apply when 0% fi nancing is chosen. Final price does not include $115 doc. fee, title, registration and tax, if applicable. See Lum’s for details. Subject to prior sale. Expires 3/31/16.