Contributed by Daniel N. Russell
Imposition of a state board of massage therapists is an overreach of government power, without due cause. Please, help close this board of massage therapists and repeal associated statutes establishing it in 2015. Let our people free to run their businesses as they see fit.
A state board regulating massage is wrong for Alaska for the following reasons:
1. First, there has never been shown any danger to people from massage. In a free society, one should not impose any board of regulation, unless there is demonstrated a clear and imminent danger to people without it. That is the gold standard. Have you ever heard of anyone seriously injured from a massage? How absurd!
2. Second, with hundreds of small towns and villages spread all over Alaska up to a thousand miles away from any massage schools, national board exam, CPR and CEU providers, it is an undue burden and cost to force our people to travel such great distances and to live in Anchorage to attend such schools for two years to get all these diplomas and certifications, just to be able to provide massages back in their home towns and villages. To boot, this board has just increased massage school diploma requirements from 500 hours to 620 hours and 16 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) hours to renew, and they require new CPR training every two years, fingerprints and passing a national board exam - all at great cost! How wrong!
3. Third, when massage licenses were regulated by local municipalities, like Anchorage, license fees were $100.; but now, this state board of massage therapists forces us to spend over $1000, when all those extra requirements that I mentioned above are included. So, most people in rural towns and villages and semi-retired people, with few customers, cannot afford this state massage license. They have put all these people out of business!
4. Fourth, under cover of massage, prostitution has skyrocketed, since this board of massage therapists has taken control because they cannot regulate it from Juneau. Almost every massage shop is a brothel! [See: https://adultsearch.com/alaska/anchorage/erotic-massage-parlor] It seems, prostitutes and their pimps are now the only ones who can afford the fees, lawyers, and translators that it takes to get a massage license! We did a much better job when local government issued massage licenses.
5. Fifth, Municipality of Anchorage used to issue a massage license within two weeks, but now the state board of massage therapists can take up to two years or more, with appeals, lawyers, translators, required letters and verifications from other states, fingerprints, FBI background checks, etc.! They hold people in limbo, without any ability to feed their families for years!
So, please, ask your state representatives and senators to introduce legislation to close the Board of Massage Therapists and repeal associated state statutes and to return control of massage to local governments to regulate it, or not, as their people see fit.
