HB 365 MINOR IN POSSESSION OF TOBACCO TAPE 96-27, SIDE A Number 001 CHAIRMAN SHARP called the Senate State Affairs Committee to order at 3:36 p.m. and brought up HB 365 as the first order of business before the committee. Number 010 PATTI SWENSON, Aide to Representative Con Bunde, prime sponsor of HB 365, informed the committee that Representative Bunde is unable to attend the meeting because the house is in session. She is available to read the sponsor statement and answer any questions committee members might have. SENATOR LEMAN requested, in the interest of time, that the sponsor statement not be read. He asked that the sponsor statement be published in the record. SPONSOR STATEMENT HB 365 The problem of youth in possession of tobacco is pervasive in Alaska and throughout the United States. In 1992, the problem was addressed on a federal level by the passage of the Synar Amendment. This amendment requires states to conduct random, unannounced inspections of locations which sell tobacco and to show a reduction in illegal sales. States which do not conduct the inspections and reduce rates of illegal sales will lose some portion of their federal substance abuse block grants. In order to reduce rates of nicotine addiction in youth and to ensure compliance with the Synar Amendment, members of the Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) have been seeking to undertake "compliance checks" to determine which merchants are selling tobacco to children. Compliance checks that involve having undercover youth attempt to buy tobacco are equivalent to the "random unannounced inspections" specified by the Synar Amendment. However, because state law prohibits the possession of tobacco by youth, the youth who participate in compliance checks could conceivably be charged with breaking the law, and the adults who work with them could be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. HB 365 was introduced to ensure our state's ability to conduct compliance checks consistent with the mandate of the Synar Amendment. This legislation adds a section to existing statute that will allow youth to work in tandem with law enforcement agencies to complete compliance checks relating to the sale of tobacco to youth. If there are no compliance checks, there is no way to know which stores are selling tobacco to children. If police don't know who is selling, they obviously cannot enforce the law. Youth will continue to purchase tobacco and become addicted to nicotine, and we will continue to see high rates of tobacco related death and disease in Alaska. In addition, many other substance abuse prevention and treatment efforts will suffer if federal substance abuse block grants are reduced. I urge your positive support of this legislation. This legislation will eliminate current obstacles to carrying out compliance checks and will reduce illegal sales of tobacco. CHAIRMAN SHARP stated there are three people signed up to testify. He called Ms. Goade to testify. Number 040 STACY GOADE, Seven Circles Coalition and Juneau Tobacco Prevention Network, informed the committee that the coalition has almost completed the third compliance check, and during this last check, there has only been one sale out of twenty-one stores. So we know that the compliance checks are working in Juneau. Although this is working, she does not think it is a substitute for increasing tobacco taxes. She asked for support of that, and other issues around tobacco use by youth. CHAIRMAN SHARP thanked Ms. Goade for her time, and stated that he has read about the compliance checks in the newspaper. Number 067 GLENN RAY, Community Health & Emergency Medical Services, Division of Public Health, Department of Health & Social Services, Coordinator of the Tobacco Prevention & Control Program, supports HB 365. It is a very useful bill. It will in no means by itself stop the problem of youth's addiction to tobacco, but it will show significant reductions in the amount of tobacco that gets into kid's hands. Anything that can be done to decrease the experimentation by kids will decrease the number of frequent smokers, and thereby decrease the number of addicted adults. Number 080 SENATOR LEMAN asked Mr. Ray if he believes it's appropriate to have parental consent for a minor under 18 to be able to participate in this program? MR. RAY thinks that's important. SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS stated he knows what Senator Leman's leading up to. MR. RAY stated parental consent has been the standard procedure for participation in compliance checks. SENATOR LEMAN agreed with Mr. Ray. SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS is sure Senator Leman will use that later. CHAIRMAN SHARP asked if there are any further questions. If not, what's the pleasure of the committee? Number 100 SENATOR LEMAN made a motion to discharge HB 365 from the Senate State Affairs Committee with individual recommendations. CHAIRMAN SHARP, hearing no objection, stated HB 365 was discharged from the Senate State Affairs Committee.