00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 11                                                                                      
01 Designating March 1995 as Sobriety Awareness Month, commonly referred to as                                             
02 "SAM."                                                                                                                  
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS public and private agencies have identified substance abuse as a path to                                       
05 myriad social problems that have confronted Alaska communities and citizens for decades; and                            
06  WHEREAS the principal strategy in the past for solving these problems has been to                                      
07 focus more on the problem than on the solution; and                                                                     
08  WHEREAS this strategy, although well intentioned, focuses too much on the                                              
09 substance and its abuses than on a solution that can                                                                    
10   (1)  result in socially appropriate behaviors and choices that improve the quality                                    
11 of life and health of individuals, families, and communities;                                                           
12   (2)  reduce the incidence of alcohol and drug related crimes; and                                                     
13   (3)  reduce the burden on local, state, and federal governments that exhaust                                          
14 their resources on the symptoms and problems of substance abuse; and                                                    

01  WHEREAS the Alaska Federation of Natives created the AFN Sobriety Movement                                             
02 (AFNSM) to encourage and focus on sobriety as a solution because sobriety produces a                                    
03 positive, healthy, and productive way of life, free from the devastating effects of alcohol and                         
04 drugs; and                                                                                                              
05  WHEREAS  sobriety is practiced by millions of people within the United States, as                                      
06 well as abroad, and the Alaska Federation of Natives encourages and supports the grassroots                             
07 sobriety movement, which is already growing in the state; and                                                           
08  WHEREAS the sobriety movement consists of the collective efforts of public agencies,                                   
09 private agencies, and private individuals to prevent and eradicate substance abuse; and                                 
10  WHEREAS the AFNSM Council and the 55 AFNSM charter groups and honor                                                    
11 societies, which consist of various local, regional, statewide, and nationwide agencies, have                           
12 designated the month of March 1995 as Sobriety Awareness Month, commonly referred to as                                 
13 "SAM," in recognition of the thousands of men, women, and children who have signed a                                    
14 statement of sobriety that is being carried to Nome on the Iditarod Trail, and who are already                          
15 doing their part to reach sobriety and the solution to the substance abuse problem.                                     
16  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature designates March 1995 as                                              
17 Sobriety Awareness Month to endorse sobriety as a solution to the substance abuse problem                               
18 in the state and to pay tribute to the thousands of men, women, and children who are doing                              
19 their part through sobriety to improve the qualify of life and the health of themselves, their                          
20 families, and their communities; and be it                                                                              
21  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the                                              
22 Governor to issue a  proclamation for the month and to direct state agencies in the executive                           
23 branch to engage in suitable activities during Sobriety Awareness Month, and urges the                                  
24 citizens of the state to engage in suitable activities during March 1995  to observe Sobriety                           
25 Awareness Month.