What are the Odds in Alaska?
39% OF YOUNG ADULTS BETWEEN THE AGE OF 18 TO 25 PARTICIPATED IN BINGE DRINKING. 38% OF ALASKA NATIVES SUICIDES AND 31% OF ALASKA NATIVES HOMICIDES WERE LINKED TO ALCOHOL. OF THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY ALASKAN NATIVES, 97% WERE COMMITTED UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL. Alcohol consumption is so common place that one tends not to realize just how insidious and damaging alcohol abuse can be. Much like the slowly heated frog, you become so acclimated to the condition that by the time you notice the heat your already cooked. This seems to be what has happened to Alaska. Alcohol is the states number one substance of abuse. Its statistics lead the nation and are both eye opening and shocking. And when I say shocking, I don’t mean it lightly. It’s the leading cause of violent, suicidal, and accidental deaths in the state. In October of 2000, Ernie Turner director of the Alaska Division of Alcoholism and Drug Use gave testimony to the senate committee on Indian affairs. It turns out that
