Readers write: Letters to the editor, August 31, 2017

Lottery can diversify economy

The Powerball winner last week won $758.7 million. Alaskans did not have the opportunity to participate unless they contacted someone in one of the states where it is legal to purchase a ticket. Alaska legislators have been in charge of managing the people's money and spent it. Now they want to take our Permanent Fund money and spend it. This is the only public money the people of Alaskan can use as they see fit. Why not institute a lottery, to fund education? Why not use a lottery to fund our government?

We are able to make decisions on alcohol, and now pot, so why are we not allowed to make decisions on a lottery? We could be hooked up to the Powerball like other first-class citizens. We can't even have casinos in Alaska. Maybe instead of wasting time on special sessions, our elected officials could do something to really diversify the economy.

— Betty Vehrs
Wasilla

Kindness featured in ADN

Reading the front page of ADN yesterday was an unexpected pleasure (Aug. 28). What a surprise to see two headlines reporting responsive, kind behaviors. First, a Houston teen, Colin McBurney, checked on the safety of his neighbors. Then at the request of an elder, he looked for and returned her wandering horse.

The other story illustrated the exemplary behavior of a pilot, Jodi Harskamp, who generously and gladly gave her kidney to a dying co-worker. In my opinion, we are sadly short on healthy role models in the media.

We need more headlines depicting responsible, positive behaviors.

It is refreshing to see these on the front page of the paper, not just in the last three minutes of the nightly news.

Thank you, ADN.

— Marge Hays
Soldotna

Youth set bar high on climate

I read with great interest Tuesday's (ADN, Aug. 29) article on the presentation of a petition by the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action requesting the state Department of Environmental Conservation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The petition asks for the state regulate carbon emissions by law based on the following proposals: 1. The state will annually publish an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions; 2. The state will require carbon dioxide emissions to be reduced 85 percent by the year 2050; 3. The state of Alaska will develop a climate action plan.

The AYEA group might be interested in House Bill 173, filed March 10. It advanced out of the state affairs committee on May 10. The bill now sits in the House Resources Committee. When the regular session ended May 17, there was inadequate time to hear the bill. However, I am confident that I and my co-chair, Rep. Geran Tarr, will hear HB 173 early in the coming session. With any luck, we can advance the bill to the House Finance Committee, where it will surely find some support.

HB 173 creates and funds a Climate Change Commission within the governor's office, and would accomplish the third goal of the youth petition. Obviously, the most ambitious of the petitioner's goals is the carbon reduction goal. The state of Hawaii leads the way in this regard, having set a goal of zero emissions by 2045. There is much to learn from its efforts.

My office will write to DEC and recommend it consider the petition at a public hearing, if the Department of Law cannot identify legal obstacles. I can't see any harm from having a hearing that will give voice to the urgent concerns raised by the petitioners.

The AYEA petitioners are right to set the bar high. We need young people to act as catalysts to remind us of what is achievable — if we only try.

— Rep. Andy Josephson
Anchorage

Big Oil's climate karma hits

Hey oil companies, how is that "climate change is not real" thingie working out for ya in Texas?

— Lori Atrops
Eagle River

Attack addiction like cancer

Thursday is International Overdose Awareness Day. I don't know of anyone who has not been touched by a family member or friend with addiction. In my family I have members in various stages of recovery and one who died as a result of his addiction. As a physician I see the effects of addiction nearly every day. At least 25 percent of my patients have a substance use disorder (much higher if tobacco is included). I applaud what Gov. Bill Walker has done in declaring a state of emergency here in Alaska in regards to the opioid epidemic. It has helped to provide access for many more people to naloxone, the opiate-reversing medication that can save lives. I urge President Donald Trump to follow Walker's lead and heed the advice of his Presidential Commission Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and declare a national emergency. To quote the commission report:

"With approximately 142 Americans dying every day, America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks."

What is sorely needed is increased access to drug treatment, especially in Alaska where there is a shortage of treatment options for individuals with addiction. More providers with the special FDA license to prescribe medication-assisted treatment (Suboxone) would go a long way to provide care for opiate dependency, especially in rural Alaska. Providing an incentive and making it easier for doctors and midlevel practitioners to become prescribers would help achieve this goal. As a society we need to come up with a plan to tackle this problem. It should be no different than fighting cancer or diabetes. Take the stigma out of substance use disorder.

— Jacquelyn L. Serrano, MD, MPH, FAAFP
Anchorage

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.