Legislature(1999 - 2000)
02/29/2000 03:46 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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SCR 12 - SOBRIETY AWARENESS MONTH CHAIRMAN DYSON announced the next order of business as Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 12, Relating to declaring March 2000 as Sobriety Awareness Month. Number 0069 SENATOR JERRY WARD, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor, came forward to present SCR 12. He noted in the past the legislature has honored the solution which is sobriety. The month of March is sobriety month, and this has been done for several years. He hopes this resolution will go forward with Mike Williams on the Iditarod race. Mike Williams is one of the founders of the AFN [Alaska Federation of Natives] sobriety movement. Number 0116 REPRESENTATIVE BRICE thanked Senator Ward for his advocacy on sobriety issues. He wondered if there would be any conflict since there was an earlier resolution designating March as developmental disabilities month. CHAIRMAN DYSON answered that there is no limit on that. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL made a motion to move SCR 12 out of committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. There being no objection, SCR 12 moved from the House Health, Education and Social Services Committee. [The testimony of Pam Watts was heard later this same meeting.] SCR 12 - SOBRIETY AWARENESS MONTH CHAIRMAN DYSON returned to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 12, Relating to declaring March 2000 as Sobriety Awareness Month, to add the testimony of Pam Watts. Number 1532 PAM WATTS, Director, Governor's Advisory Board on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse (ABADA), Office of the Commissioner, Department of Health & Social Services, came forward to testify. She noted it is gratifying to recognize the increased awareness on the part of the legislature of the role that alcohol abuse and dependency play in a wide range of tragic circumstances across the state. Alcohol is implicated in 83 percent of child abuse and neglect investigations; in 46 percent of all homicides in the state; and in 60 percent in domestic violence cases. Alcohol-related deaths in Alaska are at 11.2 percent compared to 5 percent nationally. The Alaskan adult suicide rate is four times the national average and a suicide rate nine times the national average where alcohol is implicated in many of these cases. Fifty percent of the emergency room hospital visits involve alcohol; and 77 percent of the seriously mentally ill persons incarcerated have co-occurring substance abuse disorders. MS. WATTS reported in a recent Gallup Poll survey it was found that approximately 58,000 Alaskans are alcohol-dependent or abusers. Over 41 percent of the 58,000 are dependent. The stretch between abuse and dependency is not a large one. That makes 9.7 percent of Alaska's population alcohol-dependent, compared with 4.38 percent nationally. MS. WATTS further reported that a sober lifestyle is not maintained in isolation for most alcohol-dependent people. It's not just as easy as making a decision to quit. They need help. The investments in children's programs are doomed to marginal outcomes if the substance abuse issues of the parents aren't addressed. Correctional facilities will continue to see high rates of recidivism if alcohol and drug issues aren't addressed. About 12.5 percent of the adults in Alaska are estimated to need treatment for alcohol dependency or abuse - 0.5 percent for drug dependency alone and another 1.2 percent for both alcohol and drug abuse problems. MS. WATTS noted that the ABADA appreciates the recognition that supporting sobriety is hard work for everyone, especially the person who is recovering, and particularly in an environment where a lot of messages promote the opposite of a sober lifestyle. The ABADA encourages the legislature not only to support Sobriety Awareness Week, but to make sure that access to treatment and aftercare services continue to be available for people who seek help in dealing with this disease that has such devastating effects on the residents of this state. CHAIRMAN DYSON asked Ms. Watts if she knew the magnitude of fetal alcohol poisoning in Alaska. MS. WATTS indicated there are varying figures. At this point it is extremely difficult to come up with an accurate figure because the reporting and diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is minimal. With some recent federal dollars aimed at providing diagnostic teams, there will a more accurate figure. [SCR 12 was moved out of the Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee.]
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