US Postal Inspectors work to keep alcohol from reaching local option communities in the mail. Image from USPIS. Citizens in Bethel are weighing a decision on a proposal for the for the first liquor store in decades. In the shadow of the debate is a powerful and elaborate bootlegging economy across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. A […]

At the low end, prevention measures costs the State of Alaska $9 per point of contact. Intensive substance abuse treatment costs $49,502 per person on average. Chart courtesy of the Division of Behavioral Health, DHSS. In spite of the alarmingly high rates of substance abuse among teens in Anchorage, many officials say there are reasons […]

Citizens in Bethel are weighing a decision on a proposal for the for the first liquor store in decades. In the shadow of the debate is a powerful and elaborate bootlegging economy across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The region’s three Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Taskforce investigators can’t be everywhere at once. Some villages are trying to […]

More than a decade ago, a DUI charge left Doreen Schenkenberger with two options. She could face months in jail — and be separated from her kids, 6 and 8 at the time — or she could enter the Anchorage Wellness Court. “I was ready, I was ready to do something to change my […]

Citizens in Bethel are weighing a decision on a proposal for the for the first liquor store in decades. In the shadow of the debate is a powerful and elaborate bootlegging economy across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In the first of a three-part series on efforts to curb the flow of alcohol KYUK’s Ben Matheson reports […]

This week we’re exploring the Blind Spot, a look at teens who are abusing substances, but aren’t being caught by the system set up to help them. In this story, KSKA’s Anne Hillman spoke with a couple relying on each other to end their methamphetamine addiction. Two young women sit in an empty classroom, their hands entwined. A […]

If you’re a teenager in Anchorage struggling with homelessness, hunger, or addiction there are few places to turn. One of the few organizations in Anchorage helping at-risk teens on their own terms is hidden in plain sight in one of the city’s busiest buildings. The POWER […]

This week Alaska Public Media is exploring the Blind Spot – how youth who are part of and outside of the juvenile justice system are getting help for substance abuse. One option is inpatient programs like the Adolescent Residential Center for Help in Eagle River, part of the Volunteers of America in Alaska, which Anne Hillman toured with one […]

In Anchorage, the number of criminal offenses by minors referred to the Department of Juvenile Justice has dropped by nearly half in the past decade for almost every offense type — except severe drug and alcohol offenses. That number has stayed fairly steady. As a share of the whole, substance abuse cases in Anchorage […]