Meth in Alaska
The Ice Storm, Rural Alaska enters the Ice Storm
Bethel, Alaska - The focus of the devastation caused by methamphetamine seems to be in Anchorage,Alaska and the Mat-Su Valley,ALaska but the ice storm is heading to rural Alaska, too. Earlier this year, two Alaska school teachers in Barrow were arrested after the drug was found in their home, and it's turning up in towns like Bethel,Alaska.
If you ask Bethel,Alaska residents where the ice is, they'll point you to the river. So far in Bethel, ice is just ice. No meth arrests have been made yet, and no cases have been tried in the courts. But Alaska State Troopers say they've seen the tip of the iceberg.
Trooper Sgt. Perry Barr (pictured at left) says alcohol and bootleggers are still the main problem. But undercover Alaska agents say, along with the illegal alcohol, they've been at parties where they've seen methamphetamine, especially in the summer, when construction workers move into the Alaska area.
“With that they work long hours and so a lot of times they'll need a pick me up,” said an Alaska undercover investigator.
“Certainly within rural Alaska, we've seen methamphetamine that has been mailed into communities,” said Scott Prinz, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Prinz keeps track of substance abuse for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. He says meth hasn't gotten much attention yet.
“I think we're probably overwhelmed with other priorities at this point,” said Prinz.
The priorities are alcohol -- the drug of choice for the Bush. According to numbers from the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Brown Jug sold almost $1 million worth of alcohol to people in Bethel,Alaska. And thats about half the alcohol that flows into a community of only 5,600 people. In rural Alaska, alcohol fuels some of the highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in the nation. But then you add meth to the mix.
“Are we at a point where things could catch fire and be sitting around wondering what happened? Yes,” Prinz said.
Prinz (pictured at right) says there are some things that have slowed meth's progress out in Alaska Native villages, such as a preference for downers, like alcohol, instead of uppers. Its typical in a population where depression is high.
It would be tough to buy the quantities of Sudafed and other materials necessary to make meth. Also, its hard to be anonymous in a small town. But Alaska troopers say there are rumors of meth-cooking in Bethel, but nothing has been substantiated yet.
“They might have walked into a residence already that could be manufacturing methamphetamines and they just wouldnt be aware of it,” said the undercover investigator.
An awareness that is just beginning to dawn here in the Bush,Alaska.
“It would definitely increase the misery factor,” said Barr.
Its a misery factor that would grow by leaps and bounds if the word ice became widely known as crystal meth. Bethel,Alaska is classified as a damp community, where it is illegal to buy or sell alcohol. Most people buy liquor by ordering it from Anchorage,Alaska.
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