In 2008, the Australian government aired a television public service announcement in which a teenager who drank too much kills his own friend with a punch to the head. Another of the ads showed a teenage girl who got drunk at a party having sex on the lawn while dozens of her peers look on […]

Although much of the attention on underage drinking focuses on students of high school age, it’s the years that follow when alcohol use begins to soar. About a quarter of 17-year-olds reported drinking in the previous month in 2013, when the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted by the federal […]

The majority of high school students believe most of their peers drink, but in reality, according to survey data, the opposite is true. “Most Alaska teens choose not to drink,” said Hope Finkelstein. Finkelstein is the coordinator for the Alaska Wellness Coalition, a group of behavioral health organizations that teamed up in 2010 to combat […]

Sierra Tucker smiles during Marjorie Tahbone’s Conversational Inupiaq Class at Nome Beltz Jr./Sr. High School on Monday, October 26, 2015 in Nome, Alaska. It’s 1999. Sierra Tucker is 3 months old, and her parents are divorcing. She flies from Arizona to her father’s hometown on the Seward Peninsula. It’s 2005. Sierra is 5 years old, […]

FAIRBANKS — Mike Johnston looked toward the ceiling in his sparsely furnished room, made a quick mental calculation, then came up with a number. He figures he’s gone to treatment for alcohol addiction eight times — maybe more — at locations in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Ketchikan. The 61-year-old Anchorage resident lives today at Karluk Manor, […]

ANCHORAGE — Scores of semi trucks rumble past on Fifth and Sixth avenues. Overhead is a near-constant buzz of airplanes that take off and land at nearby Merrill Field. Across the street are neon signs for check cashing, a fried chicken restaurant, a bar and luxury auto dealers. Inside a tall black fence on […]

FAIRBANKS — A quick look at the 1907 Tanana Directory leaves little doubt about what early Fairbanksans did in their spare time. The business guide listed 59 bars in town, from Albright’s to the Wigwam Saloon. The town’s population at the next census was listed at about 3,500 residents — one bar for every […]

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner community perspective: I am a life-long Alaskan who was born and raised in Fairbanks, and there are few things that are more important to me than the health of my community. As a board member at the Rasmuson Foundation, I am pleased with the newest partnership between the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner […]