Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 106
02/17/2015 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation: Cancer Action Network | |
| Presentation: Alaska Youth Policy Summit | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 17, 2015
3:06 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Neal Foster
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative David Talerico
Representative Adam Wool
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Liz Vazquez, Vice Chair
Representative Geran Tarr
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: CANCER ACTION NETWORK
- HEARD
PRESENTATION: YOUTH POLICY SUMMIT
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
MOLLY DANIELS, Deputy President
American Cancer Society (ACS) Cancer Action Network
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint titled "Eliminating
Cancer in Alaska - A Roadmap."
EMILY NENON, Alaska Government Relations Director
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint titled "Eliminating
Cancer in Alaska - A Roadmap."
RUSTY BEST, Organizer
Alaska Youth Policy Summit
Alaska Youth and Family Network
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the Alaska Youth Policy
Summit.
HEATHER KELLY
Alaska Youth Policy Summit
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the Alaska Youth Policy
Summit.
BENJAMIN DAHL-ROUZEN
Alaska Youth Policy Summit
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the Alaska Youth Policy
Summit.
LEE BREINIG
Alaska Youth Policy Summit
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the Alaska Youth Policy
Summit.
SAMUEL JOHNSON
Alaska Youth Policy Summit
Cordova, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the Alaska Youth Policy
Summit.
ROBIN AHGUPUK
Alaska Youth Policy Summit
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified about the Alaska Youth Policy
Summit.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:06:36 PM
CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the House Health and Social Services
Standing Committee meeting to order at 3:06 p.m.
Representatives Seaton, Foster, Wool, and Talerico were present
at the call to order. Representative Stutes arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^PRESENTATION: Cancer Action Network
PRESENTATION: Cancer Action Network
3:07:03 PM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the first order of business would be
a presentation by the Cancer Action Network.
3:08:50 PM
MOLLY DANIELS, Deputy President, American Cancer Society (ACS)
Cancer Action Network, presented a PowerPoint entitled
"Eliminating Cancer in Alaska - A Roadmap," and addressed slide
1, "Cancer by the Numbers." She reported that 1.66 million
Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2015, and that over
580,000 Americans, 1,600 each day, will die in 2015. She
relayed that one-half of all men and one-third of all women will
have cancer this year. She declared that the cost to Americans
this year will be more than $201 billion. She shared that there
were currently 15 million Americans with cancer, and it was the
leading cause of death in Alaska, 23 percent, slide 2, "Alaska
Impact." She stated that, in Alaska, 3,700 people will be
diagnosed with cancer this year, with about 25 percent of them
dying. She moved on to slide 3, "Changing the Facts," and
stated that half of all cancer deaths could be prevented through
changes in tobacco use, diet, and physical activity, and ensured
access to health care.
3:11:08 PM
MS. DANIELS directed attention to slide 4, "Highlights from the
first 100 years," and shared an anecdote that the three
researchers pictured were smoking pipes, as they thought this
was safer than smoking cigarettes. She offered her belief that
all three of them eventually gave up tobacco completely. She
pointed to the milestones listed in the efforts against cancer.
Moving on to slide 5, "Highlights from the first 100 years," she
pointed out that ACS gave its first research grant in Alaska in
2007, to the Alaska Native communities. She said that ACS
Cancer Action Network (CAN) had taken a much more active role
with public policy in the last 15 years because so many
decisions about cancer were made in the state legislatures,
slide 6. She pointed to the milestones after the Surgeon
General's report on Smoking & Health in 1964 linked smoking and
lung cancer, following the report in 1988 that nicotine was
addictive, and the subsequent report in 2006 that declared there
was "no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke," slide
7.
3:13:00 PM
MS. DANIELS reminded the committee that there had been a 2014
report from the surgeon general marking 50 years of progress,
slide 8, "The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of
Progress," which provided even more evidence of the serious
damage that smoking did to the human body. This report
commemorated the anniversary of the first report, which had laid
the foundation for today's programs to reduce the disease and
death caused by smoking, slide 9. She reported that, as the
chemicals had changed over the years, cigarettes had become more
dangerous and that smokers today were two to three times more
likely to die from smoking related illness than 50 years ago.
She stated that this was double the risk of death for men, and
three times the risk for women. She emphasized that, in the
United States, the annual medical cost and loss of productivity
due to premature death from secondhand smoke was more than $10
billion.
3:14:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked whether there was scientific
evidence to support the statements on slide 10.
3:14:42 PM
EMILY NENON, Alaska Government Relations Director, American
Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, in response to
Representative Stutes, stated an emphatic "yes, the answer is
yes, and a lot of these numbers here are documented in that U.S.
Surgeon General's Report from last year." She acknowledged that
there were variations to the number of deaths related to
secondhand smoke, as some reports only included adults in the
measurement. She declared that this was a deadly issue, and
there was extensive documentation in the report.
REPRESENTATIVE STUTES asked for clarification that this had been
connected to secondhand smoke, noting that some people had lung
cancer, yet they were not smokers and had not been around
smokers.
MS. NENON replied that the large majority of lung cancers were
related to both smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. She
reminded the committee that lung cancer took time to develop,
whereas cardio vascular disease occurred much more quickly. She
directed attention to risk factors, and reminded the committee
of the time that smoking had been allowed in the committee
rooms. She said that ACS was still working on reducing the
exposure to secondhand smoke for all workers.
3:17:19 PM
MS. NENON moved on to slide 11, "Alaska Milestones," and
declared that Alaska had a lot to be proud of as a leader in
tobacco prevention efforts. She stated that three pieces of
tobacco prevention worked together: public education in the
communities based on the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand
smoke, as well as support for comprehensive prevention and
cessation; an increase in the price of the product had a strong
impact for prevention to the use of tobacco by kids; and,
protection from second hand smoke. She reported that the work
in Alaska had resulted first in a decline in youth smoking, and
now there was a decline in adult smoking. She declared "it's
pretty stunning how far we've come." She shared that the Cancer
Action Network had received recognition from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other national
organizations for its work in tobacco prevention in Alaska, and
that there had been successes in Alaska for reducing the health
disparities around tobacco use and its effects. She directed
attention to the drop in Alaska Native youth smoking, which had
been faster than that in the general population. She reported
that smoking rates for Alaska Native adults had dropped, and
although they were not yet statistically significant, there was
a continued effort toward this.
3:20:12 PM
MS. NENON addressed slide 13, "But:" and shared that 14,000
Alaska youth would die prematurely from tobacco use, unless this
curve was altered.
MS. NENON spoke about the research on electronic cigarettes, and
noted that the long term health effects were still unknown,
slide 14, "New Products: Electronic Cigarettes." She said there
were more than 400 individual products on the market, and, as
there was no regulation, it was not possible to know what was in
any given product, which made it very challenging. She reported
on legal sales of electronic cigarettes with marijuana in
Colorado, with flavorings added. She shared that enough added
flavorings would also disguise the smell of the marijuana. She
stated that a current focus was on protection from secondhand
exposure.
CHAIR SEATON mentioned that Alaska had made it illegal to sell
or give non-tobacco nicotine to children. He pointed out that
current proposed legislation in Alaska prohibited the
combination of nicotine or alcohol with THC products. He stated
that it was illegal for anyone other than a physician to sell or
give an electronic cigarette as a tobacco cessation product to a
minor.
3:23:51 PM
MS. NENON shared that Alaska was a national leader for
recognizing this issue for the dangers of starting nicotine
addiction very young. She reported on new smokeless tobacco
products in all manner of flavors.
3:24:28 PM
MS. NENON shared slide 15, "Next Steps," and said that almost
half the Alaska population was covered by smoke-free workplace
law. Directing attention to slide 16, "Epidemic Underway," she
declared that, as there had been success for creating an
awareness to the link between tobacco and cancer, there was a
newer, but stunning evidence base to the link between nutrition,
physical activity, and obesity. She stated that one third of
all cancer deaths were related to issues of diet, physical
activity, and obesity, slide 17. She acknowledged some overlap
for these deaths, as some people had more than one risk factor.
She declared that there was a "stunning, stunning link and we
have tools to do something about it," slide 18, "The Cancer
Link." She pointed to slide 19, "Where we are headed..." and
said that the cost curve would continue to go upward as the
obesity rate went up, unless something was done. She
acknowledged that the Alaska State Legislature had made some
investment in obesity prevention, and it was showing results.
She stated that the youth obesity rates were starting to drop
and she pointed to all the different pieces put into place to
get to this statistically significant drop, slide 21, "Anatomy
of Success."
3:26:58 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked where Alaska ranked nationally for
obesity.
MS. NENON said that she would report back with the information.
MS. NENON concluded with slide 22, "Access to Care," explaining
that this was the third piece for tobacco prevention. She
stated that access to cancer screenings, and the subsequent
early detection, had brought a drop to colorectal and breast
cancer death rates. She acknowledged the extraordinary
challenges for access to care in Alaska. She stated that her
organization was strongly supportive to the expansion of
Medicaid to give more people health coverage. She shared that
future work was necessary for access to appropriate pain and
symptom management. She declared that it improved survival
rates. She stated that pain management brought a myriad of
policy implications.
3:29:21 PM
MS. DANIELS closed with slide 23, "Next Steps," and stated that
there was a big national effort to build up the advocacy with a
strong volunteer program. She reported that the volunteers
would be working in coalitions to ensure the information was
disseminated, the public was educated, and follow up information
was provided. She shared that there would be responses to other
issues such as Vitamin D, colorectal screening, and Affordable
Care Act implementation issues.
3:30:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL, directing attention to smoke-free work
places and the ability for some municipalities to enact these
powers, asked if any states were smoke free.
MS. DANIELS replied that 26 states had smoke-free workplaces,
restaurants, and bars, and that very few states did not have
smoke-free communities. She reported that ACS CAN was working
to build more smoke-free laws, in the hopes that this would
become "a tipping point in those states for statewide laws."
She opined that 60 percent of the population were covered by
extensive smoke-free laws.
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked about the percentage within Alaska.
MS. NENON replied that about 50 percent of Alaskans were covered
by strong smoke-free laws. She noted that in 1998 Bethel was
the first community to pass a smoke-free law, and that list now
included Barrow, Dillingham, Unalaska, Juneau, Anchorage,
Skagway, Haines, Klawock, Palmer, and Nome. She declared that
there was no longer surprise when ACS CAN announced that
everyone should be protected from secondhand smoke. She
acknowledged that there were some issues of limitations with
borough health powers, as well as 70,000 Alaskans were living in
an unorganized borough without a local city council to take this
action. She declared that the State of Alaska became "the place
that can take that action." She emphasized that she was here
"to talk to you about protecting everyone from secondhand
smoke."
3:33:41 PM
CHAIR SEATON declared that the largest focus of this committee
was for prevention, more than for access or treatment. He
pointed out that an emphasis had been for review of data from
studies, especially for Vitamin D. He referenced the nationwide
open clinical trial conducted by Grass Roots Health and the data
for the 844 women over 60 years of age whose Vitamin D had been
elevated. He reported that the median Vitamin D level was 50
ng/ml and for those women above the median, there had been a 72
percent reduction in the rate of relative risk for breast
cancer. He noted that, for women over 60 in Alaska with Vitamin
D above 50 ng/ml, this same reduction of relative risk for
cancer was 82 percent. He asked if there was any other
information from clinical studies or trials with similar
results.
MS. NENON reflected that she and Chair Seaton had had this
conversation previously and that she had spoken with the leading
researchers from her national organization about this particular
issue. She relayed that there were many promising studies being
conducted, which included prevention for the disease process.
She stated that the American Cancer Society was proud to be the
second largest funder of cancer research, only behind the
federal government. She reported that ACS was in the midst of
conducting its third cancer prevention study, and she pointed
out that this was a prospective study which had just finished
enrolling 300,000 individuals nationwide. She relayed that
there were questions about Vitamin D included in the survey, and
that ACS had published 30 papers during the past 10 years
reviewing Vitamin D. She stated that there was "particularly
promising information looking at the link between higher blood
levels of Vitamin D and reduction in colorectal cancer." She
noted that this was of particular interest in Alaska, as the
Alaska Native population had the highest incidence of colorectal
cancer of any population group in the nation. She said that
there were challenges for randomized control trials because so
many people were already taking Vitamin D supplements.
3:38:03 PM
CHAIR SEATON shared information about the work by Professor
Hollis in Atlanta, and the thermal micrographs of human cell
colonies infused with Vitamin D3. He reminded that Vitamin D3
was used up very rapidly as it only had a 24 hour half-life in
the body and that it was necessary to have a regular daily
dosing regimen for Vitamin D to be utilized by the soft tissue
for prevention of cancer.
3:40:08 PM
MS. NENON, in response to Representative Wool, said that Alaska
Natives had the highest incidence of colorectal cancer of any
population group in the nation, twice that of the national white
population. She pointed out that this did not show up on the
CDC website as Alaska Natives and American Indians were combined
as a population group. She relayed that African Americans had
1.5 times the risk for colorectal cancer compared to the U.S.
white population.
3:41:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WOOL asked if there were other causation and risk
factors for this high rate among Alaska Natives.
MS. NENON replied that tobacco use rates in Alaska were higher
than the national average and, as that lowered, there may be a
lowering of the colorectal cancer rate, as well. She declared
that the ACS CAN focus was for prevention through screening
colonoscopies, and subsequent removal of polyps.
^PRESENTATION: Alaska Youth Policy Summit
PRESENTATION: Alaska Youth Policy Summit
3:42:31 PM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the final order of business would be
a presentation by the Alaska Youth Policy Summit.
3:45:25 PM
RUSTY BEST, Organizer, Alaska Youth Policy Summit, Alaska Youth
and Family Network, said that the Alaska Youth Policy Summit
brought youth from all over Alaska to share their stories,
discuss the impacts to their lives, and strategize ways to
change the future for other youth in Alaska.
3:46:02 PM
HEATHER KELLY, Alaska Youth Policy Summit, said that she had
struggled with alcohol and substance abuse for eight years, and
that earlier this year, she had decided to change her life. She
stated that there was not any help available in Fairbanks, and
that she was told to go to Anchorage. She said that there was
only one detox center in the state, and that it was full. She
shared that she met with the Alaska Native Justice Center youth
coordinator and this was where she found help. She reported
that she waited for 40 days to get into a residential treatment
center, and that she was finally stable enough to undergo
intensive outpatient treatment. She asked for betterment to the
residential treatment center, as it was very overcrowded and it
was necessary for those seeking recovery to not wait months.
She asked that personal youth navigators be available for help.
CHAIR SEATON asked for confirmation that the Alaska Native
Justice Center was in Anchorage, and that was where she had
first found help.
3:48:24 PM
BENJAMIN DAHL-ROUZEN, Alaska Youth Policy Summit, relayed that
he had been in foster care from ages five to ten years. He said
that during that time he would repeatedly lash out in anger
because he had been exposed to domestic violence, drugs, and
alcohol issues in his home. He shared that he finally had
counselling at 8 years of age, and that had helped him better
himself, not blame others, and not take his anger out on others.
He said that he was adopted at 10 years of age, which gave him
an opportunity to better himself. This had a big impact on his
life. He asked for support for proposed HB 27, and he asked for
more funding for homeless youth through Boys and Girls Club,
YMCA, and Covenant House, organizations which had been very
supportive and influential to him.
3:50:16 PM
LEE BREINIG, Alaska Youth Policy Summit, shared that he was a
student at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) with a major
in health and human services. He reported that he had an
addiction to opioid narcotics while in high school in Juneau,
and continued to struggle with his addiction after high school,
dealing and committing crimes to support his addiction. In
2010, he was charged with felonious possession of a stolen
handgun, and subsequently he went to a treatment center,
Providence Breakthrough, in Anchorage. After his treatment, he
spent four months in jail and during that time, he had decided
to pursue a career in substance abuse counseling. He offered
his belief that the barrier crimes matrix currently in place
with the Department of Health and Social Services needed to be
re-examined. He expressed his understanding that it was in
place to protect vulnerable populations from abuse, but he
suggested that there was research which showed there was a
"better buy-in from your clients" if they were working with a
substance abuse counselor who had "field experience." Because
of the barrier crimes matrix and his criminal background, he had
been limited to volunteer work and internship at the Alaska
Native Justice Center. He shared that he was 98 percent
complete with his degree, but that the barrier crimes prevented
him from getting a job. He noted that he was 26 years old,
living with his mom, and he was ready to "get on with my life."
3:53:20 PM
SAMUEL JOHNSON, Alaska Youth Policy Summit, shared that, as his
sister had multiple disabilities, his father was a slight
workaholic, and his mother spent a lot of time with his sister,
he had to assume a place of responsibility in his household,
bringing with it early maturity and an ability to guide his
peers. He noted that his peers would bring him their problems,
ranging from teen angst to self-harm, eating disorders, drug and
alcohol addictions, bi-polar disorder, and consideration of
suicide. As a peer, he could only offer a listening ear, so he
would often suggest that his peers get counselors. He relayed
that some of his peers had their parents deny help from a
counselor. He proposed an idea for teen clinics to allow them
to see counselors, regardless of parental permission, as "youth
is a very volatile time for adolescents and it's very important
what happens in youth, it affects your entire life." He stated
that the better your childhood, the more likely you were to have
a successful adult life. He declared that, as there were a lot
of stigmas attached to kids, it was usually more difficult to
pass any legislation unless it made rules stricter. He
suggested that a better window for kids, ages 16 - 18, would
allow for counselors and clinics.
3:56:08 PM
ROBIN AHGUPUK, Alaska Youth Policy Summit, shared that he was a
former foster youth, and had been in foster care for 15 years,
with 48 placements, and 52 social workers. He had attended 18
different schools, and he was a loner, which had harmful effects
to his immune system and brought on depression. He suggested
that there needed to be better background checks for social
workers, and to lower social worker caseloads, reporting that
his last social worker had 150 cases which was harmful to
everyone involved.
3:57:40 PM
CHAIR SEATON suggested that there may be an opportunity to
incorporate some of these ideas into future legislation.
3:58:04 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Health and Social Services Standing Committee meeting was
adjourned at 3:58 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Presentation for HSS February 17 2015 en.pdf |
HHSS 2/17/2015 3:00:00 PM |
Presentation- Cancer Action Network |