Legislature(2013 - 2014)
04/11/2014 04:29 PM Senate FIN
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB278 | |
| SB209 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE BILL NO. 209
"An Act prohibiting smoking in certain locations; and
providing for an effective date."
6:23:33 PM
Co-Chair Meyer relayed that the committee would begin with
public testimony.
DR. BOB URATA, PHYSICIAN AND AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
VOLUNTEER, JUNEAU, spoke in support of SB 209. He was in
favor of the inclusion of e-cigarettes and hoped that the
opt-out provision would be removed. He relayed that every
34 seconds an American died of a heart attack; every 40
seconds an American died of a stroke. He stressed that
cancer and cardiovascular disease were the number one and
two causes of death in Alaskans respectively. He detailed
that secondhand smoke killed approximately 50,000 Americans
annually. He cited that the Center for Disease Control
(CDC) reported that secondhand smoke exposure cost
Americans $5.6 billion annually in lost productivity. He
continued that annually tobacco cost the U.S. $133 billion
in direct medical care for adults and $156 billion in lost
productivity. He believed that smoke-free air workplace
laws were an important part in improving the health of
Americans. He emphasized that clean air reduced heart
attacks, strokes, cancer, and lung disease. He provided an
example that in Pueblo, Colorado there had been a decrease
in heart attacks due to an implementation of a clean air
act. He referenced an Institute of Social and Economic
Research (ISER) report documenting Anchorage's positive
business experience that occurred when a clean air act was
implemented. He opined that e-cigarettes should be included
under the legislation due to serious questions related to
their safety. He detailed that the Federal Drug
Administration had found known toxins in nicotine. He
thought the approach should be to do no harm. He asked the
committee to imagine how many lives would be saved if
cigarettes had been properly studied prior to being placed
on the market; he believed the same went for e-cigarettes.
He stated that the bill's positive impacts would benefit
many individuals in a short period of time. On behalf of
the American Heart Association he urged the committee to
support the bill.
6:27:51 PM
MICHAEL PATTERSON, SELF, JUNEAU, spoke in support in SB
209. He shared that he had been chosen by the CDC to do a
nation-wide campaign on chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) because there was little known about the
disease and it was killing Alaska Natives at twice the rate
of any other nationality in the U.S. He discussed his
personal experience living with COPD, which had changed his
life. He shared that in the past he had been a smoker and
had objected to others infringing on his rights as a
smoker; he no longer felt the same way. He expressed his
dedication to traveling throughout Alaska to speak in
schools about COPD. He agreed with a Juneau Empire story
that stated he faced the anti-smoking campaign with a
"fever of an evangelist." He stressed the importance of
communicating with students and others about the impacts of
smoking. He discussed how difficult it was to avoid
secondhand smoke. He emphasized that the CDC had determined
that e-cigarettes were an aerosol that contained
carcinogens known to cause cancer in addition to ultrafine
particles that caused veins to constrict. The e-cigarettes
could cause a person with heart problems to have a heart
attack; they also caused exacerbation attacks in people
with asthma, emphysema, and COPD.
6:31:11 PM
Mr. Patterson experienced extreme exacerbation attacks
caused by cigarettes and e-cigarettes, which were so
intense he had quit smoking. He recalled extensive hospital
stays as a result of the attacks. He stressed that e-
cigarettes were deadly and although they had no smell, they
could cost a person with COPD their life. He asked the
committee to help him in his mission to help children
understand the cost of smoking. He emphasized that he had
not understood what life was until he was faced with his
own death. He urged the committee to consider the bill and
to set aside thoughts about ramifications to business
owners. He thanked the committee for its time and
consideration and underscored that the issue was a matter
of life and death.
6:35:34 PM
Co-Chair Meyer thanked Mr. Patterson for his testimony and
agreed that the legislation had many merits.
LINCOLN BEAN SR, ALASKA NATIVE HEALTH BOARD, KAKE, JUNEAU,
spoke in support of SB 209. He discussed his membership on
various boards. He agreed with comments made by the prior
testifiers. He pointed to his membership on the National
Indian Health Board. He relayed that Alaska had the highest
cancer rate in the nation. He believed the issue should get
the undivided attention of the state's residents. He
recalled that when he had taken over at the Alaska Native
Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) the organization had
needed one oncologist; it currently required four. He
stressed that the statistics did not lie. He communicated
the Alaska Native Health Board's support for the
legislation; the board had implemented a similar policy and
had seen a positive impact. He relayed that the cancer rate
was highest among Alaska Natives primarily due to tobacco
use. He communicated that prevention was the key. He
discussed a recent board meeting focusing on prevention. He
emphasized that the news was not all grim; less than one in
five (18 percent) of Alaska Native youths smoked at
present. He compared the number to the 31 percent who had
smoked five years earlier. He shared that non-smokers could
be sickened by secondhand smoke and pointed to the
successes of smoke-free businesses. He appreciated the
committee's time and believed that speaking out on the
issue could save lives.
EMILY NENON, DIRECTOR, ALASKA GOVERNMENT RELATIONS,
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY CANCER ACTION NETWORK, testified in
support of SB 209. She relayed that she had been working on
the issue in Alaska for 13 years in local areas. She
mentioned barriers to furthering local action and stressed
that it was time to protect all workers from secondhand
smoke in the workplace. The organization did not support
the opt-out provision in the bill, but it did support the
continued public discourse and moving the bill forward. She
highlighted a study commissioned by the American Cancer
Society that looked at how the law would impact states. She
shared that over five years a comprehensive smoke-free law
would be expected to produce economic benefits including a
$3.69 million savings in heart attack and stroke
treatments, $1.35 million in lung cancer savings, $520,000
in state Medicaid savings, and $980,000 in smoking related
pregnancy treatment savings. She stated that the e-
cigarettes information had come forth in the past couple of
years due to the product's newness. She relayed that the
organization had been working closely with the Department
of Health and Social Services on implementation plans; the
department would be able to implement the legislation
smoothly with the existing community grant program around
the state with a focus on public education. She
communicated that everyone had the right to breathe smoke-
free air.
Co-Chair Meyer wondered if there were items in the bill
such as the opt-out provision that Ms. Nenon did not like.
Ms. Nenon replied that the American Cancer Society Action
Network supported protecting all workers from secondhand
smoke in the workplace. The organization was confident the
legislative process would continue to deal with the issues.
6:43:52 PM
Co-Chair Meyer asked how many Alaskan cities and
communities had become smoke-free. Ms. Nenon replied that
Bethel was the first community to become smoke-free in
1998. Other smoke-free communities included Barrow, Nome,
Dillingham, Unalaska, Anchorage, Juneau, Palmer, Haines,
Skagway, Petersburg, and Klawok. She noted that the
information was included in the sponsor statement. She
added that the smoke-free communities accounted for
approximately half of the state's population.
SB 209 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
Co-Chair Meyer discussed the schedule for the following
day.
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