Glasses from Alaska. Source: Flickr
Alaska bars and liquor stores will be required to post signs warning of alcohol’s link to breast and colon cancers, under a bill that became law on Friday.
It will impact bars, restaurants and liquor stores starting August 1. The law also allows Alaskans as young as 16 to serve alcohol, with adequate supervision.
The new sign mandate, to go into effect on August 1, makes Alaska the first U.S. state to require such health warnings specifically related to colon and breast cancers.
The warnings about the alcohol-cancer relationship will be added to already mandated warnings about the dangers that pregnant women’s consumption can lead to birth defects.
The requirement is part of a measure, Senate Bill 15, that allows employees under 21 to serve alcohol at restaurants and breweries. Lawmakers last year passed a similar bill, with the same combined provisions, but House members gave their final approval just minutes after the midnight adjournment deadline. It was one of five bills that Dunleavy vetoed because of passage after that deadline.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, was the leading proponent of the new signage. He sponsored a stand-alone measure, House Bill 37, that became combined with the alcohol-server measure; the same process was used last year, though passage of that bill was after the adjournment deadline.
He said he hopes the cancer-warning signs reduce drinking:
This is one of a kind, first in the country language, stating that alcohol use specifically can cause colon and breast cancers, which are two of the most common cancers in the country, and in Alaska, and I think educating folks that alcohol is a risk factor for those very common cancers is going to save lives.
This time, the combined bill on alcohol servers and cancer warnings was approved by lawmakers well before they adjourned. It won final passage with a unanimous vote in the Senate on April 4. Dunleavy allowed the measure to become law without his signature.
Alcohol consumption has been shown to increase risks of certain types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer.
Gray said the relationship has gained more attention in recent years, and he some gave credit to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. In January, Murthy issued an advisory report describing how alcohol consumption, even at moderate levels, increases risks of at least seven types of cancer.
“Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity,” said the report.
Murthy recommended that the label on packaging for alcoholic drinks be updated to include the cancer-risk link.
Alaska is the first state to pass a law specifically requiring cancer warnings for alcohol sales. California requires warnings on all cancer-causing substances through Proposition 65.
Drinking alcohol increases the risk of at least seven types of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, including head and neck, liver, breast, and colorectal cancers. Currently, those labels focus on the risks of drinking during pregnancy and reduced motor skills and haven’t been updated since 1988.
Currently, South Korea is the only nation that requires warning labels about alcohol consumption increasing cancer risks. A similar warning is set to go into effect in Ireland next year.
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