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 […]
Two young cousins break their family’s cycle of alcohol abuse
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, […]
Road to solving Alaska’s alcohol problem filled with roadblocks, challenges
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, […]
Housing First the backbone of 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 […]
Finding solutions to Alaska’s long-running alcohol problems
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 […]
Time is now to address alcohol impacts
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 […]
A Moving Target: Postal Inspectors Root Out Liquor By Mail
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 […]
The Blind Spot: Beyond No-Man’s Land
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 […]
A Moving Target: Stopping Booze at the River
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 […]