Legislature(2001 - 2002)
02/14/2002 03:40 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SCR 22-SOBRIETY AWARENESS MONTH: MARCH 2002
SENATOR WARD, prime sponsor, explained that several years ago a
small group of people decided they were going to become role
models who did not abuse either alcohol or drugs. Sobriety month
is discussed in all the schools in Alaska in the month of March
and is advertised during the Iditarod as well as other venues
through out the state. People are encouraged to speak about
sobriety as an alternative lifestyle that is worthwhile to
promote.
In committee member's packets there was a letter from Frank Dahl,
President of Cabaret Hotel Restaurant and Retailers Association
(CHARR) that encouraged support for SCR 22. A copy of his letter
is enclosed in the bill file.
Everyone he's ever met has been touched in some way by drug and
alcohol abuse. This doesn't mean individuals must give up alcohol
altogether to lend their support; this resolution is simply
honoring those who honor sobriety. "By making March Sobriety
Month, we are enabling thousands of people in Alaska to become
warriors for sobriety."
DAVID KATZEEK testified in both English and Tlingit in support of
SCR 22.
My grandfather told me a man who became sober and
lived a sober life was a very wise individual and
could learn a lot. Sobriety is more than being
able to not drink; it is looking at all the types
of things that are happening to us as a people.
Sobriety could mean we are becoming aware of a
problem in the State of Alaska that results in
approximately 96 percent of those re-offenders
that go back to jail have been involved with
alcohol, resulting in a high cost to the State of
Alaska and to its citizens. The cost is even
greater than the money that is spent. Who hears
the cry of a little child where alcohol is
reigning? Who sees the broken heart of a teenager
who is having a difficult time in school because
of the emotional, painful and difficult kinds of
things he heard the night before he goes to
school.
This is called sobering up. Not just by the
individual who is using alcohol, but society in
general, in regarding the kinds of things that
face us as a people. This is a major problem.
This resolution isn't to tell everyone to quit
drinking and everybody should abstain. It is a
notice to the people in the State of Alaska that
the state recognizes and realizes that there is a
problem. We are going to take time to look at
this particular issue and stand with the people
in the State of Alaska regarding this. To me this
is sobering up when the Legislature and the
government begins to see the kinds of problems
we're facing. Not just the drunk, not just the
alcohol abuser or not just the alcoholic, but
society in general. I appreciate this time and I
like speaking in my language because this is
where I come from and I'm proud of my people. But
my grandfather would have said may it be as if
you heard, not from me, David Katzeek, but from
the elders of the Tlingit nation saying this is
really really important and we need your help.
This may seem like a small resolution, but it is
a very big one in my personal opinion. It's like
a pebble being dropped in a pond where the rings
will reach out all over.
He then asked that his son be allowed to testify.
SHAAN KATZEEK introduced himself and explained his American
Government class requires each student to select and follow a
bill. He selected SCR 22 to follow and didn't realize his father
was going to be speaking on behalf of the same bill.
He thinks it's a good thing to do because it lets everyone know
they can take that step of being sober during the month of March
and then they can tell others what they did.
PAMELA WATTS, executive director of the Advisory Board on
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, expressed her appreciation to Senator
Ward for sponsoring the resolution as he does every year.
She said this is a foundation piece for the strategies that are
contained in the state plan for alcohol and drug abuse services.
The number of communities around the state that have begun to
take responsibility for the negative consequences of alcohol and
drug abuse in their areas encourages them.
The benefits of taking responsibility for the negative
consequences of alcohol include improvement in the quality of
life for individuals, families and communities. When communities
take responsibility, there is a reduction in the recidivism rate
in the criminal justice system. The reduced burden on government
by not having to exhaust its resources to pay for the pervasive
problems caused by alcohol and drug abuse is another issue. Not
only is there the high economic cost to be paid to keep an
individual incarcerated but also the un-quantified cost of
separating parents from their children.
A recent McDowell report conservatively estimates that the
economic cost of alcohol abuse comes to about $453,000 million
per year. She urged committee members to seriously consider the
pieces of legislation that will come before them this session
that address alcohol related problems.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT noted there was no prepared CS, no proposed
amendments. The bill had a zero fiscal note.
He asked for the will of the committee.
SENATOR PHILLIPS made a motion to move SCR 22 and zero fiscal
note from committee with individual recommendations.
There being no objection, SCR 22 moved from committee.
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