War on Drugs in Alaska?

Drug Abuse, Addiction and Treatment and Rehabilitation Situation in Alaska

Due to it’s non-centrally location compared with the rest of the United States and common border with Canada, Alaska has become a transit zone for drug smugglers. The state also has become a major consumer of illicit drugs despite is remote location. The majority of the drug trade is carried out by the Mexican and Dominican drug organizations/cartels.

Over the past 2 decades, Alaska has seen some of the highest per capita use of controlled drugs and large drug seizures have become common. Associated with the illicit drug trade is one of the highest incidence of alcoholism, money laundering, violence, rape and suicide when compared to the rest of the United States.

The major drug trafficked in Alaska is crack cocaine. The trafficking is usually done by the Mexican and Dominican organizations. The cocaine originates from the Southern USA arriving via South America. Because of Alaska’s remote location and difficulty bringing in drugs, the drug cartels resell cocaine at exorbitant prices. In addition to cocaine, black tar heroin is also available in Alaska. The spread of this drug is done by the Mexican organizations.

Today, Oxycontin and methamphetamine have replaced heroin as the drug of abuse. Like all other states, methamphetamine abuse has become an epidemic in Alaska because of its easy availability and cheap price. To counter the methamphetamine abuse, legislation has been passed to remove pseudoephrine from cold remedies. This legal maneuver has helped decrease the abuse of methamphetamine. Drug trafficking organizations obtain the majority of methamphetamine for sale in Alaska from the Southern USA and transport it across state lines using various couriers systems.

Club Drugs are also becoming widely abused in Alaska and the business is very profitable for the traffickers. The club drugs are easily available at most night clubs and are the drugs of choice for abuse among college students.

Marijuana is the most abused and widespread drug in Alaska. Unlike other states, Bill HB49 has been introduced which re-criminalizes the use and possession of marijuana. The majority of marijuana is home grown in sophisticated laboratories. However, the potent and more pure form of marijuana known as BC Bud continues to be smuggled in from Canada.

Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused drugs. These drugs are easily accessed by illegal dispensing and prescribing by physicians/pharmacists, prescription forgery, doctor shopping, drug thefts from pharmacies and online sales. The drugs most commonly abused include oxycodone (OxyContin®, Percocet, Percodan), hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab), and anabolic steroids.

DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams

To counter the drug traffickers, various DEA mobile enforcement teams have been established in Alaska. This cooperative program with state and local law enforcement counterparts were established in response to the escalating problem of drug-related violent crime in the State. While these mobile unit have not eradicated the drug problem, they certainly have led to more arrests of criminals and gangs.

Alaska has recently allowed patients to use medical marijuana if they have specified medical conditions, a state registry ID card and the advice of a physician. Caregivers must also have the ID cards to avoid prosecution for distribution of marijuana. This law was enacted in March of 1999 after voters passed Ballot Measure #8.However, a proposal is now being considered to over turn the state's lenient marijuana laws.

To assist victims of drug abuse, the State is now using money collected from drug traffickers to pay for Rehabilitation/Treatment programs. A few in-patient and outpatient programs have been established to help the victims.

Irl Stambaugh fired because Palin's campaign contributors

The Washington Independent reported on Monday that another Sarah Palin firing scandal had been overlooked:

Early in her tenure as mayor, the city council threatened to recall her over accusations that she fired the city's police chief, Irl Stambaugh, and the library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, without warning. She accused them in a letter saying: "I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment ..." (The Anchorage Daily News, via nexis)

Ultimately, Palin let the library director have her job back; though Stambaugh's position was not returned. The police chief took the matter to court, where a judge sided with Palin, saying city law allows the mayor to fire the police chief without cause.


ABC News today gives more information on this scandal. The police chief says he was fired because her campaign contributors, including bars and the NRA, didn't like his work:

After taking over as Mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Palin fired the longtime local police chief. The former police chief, Irl Stambaugh says he was fired because he stepped on the toes of Palin's campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association.

Stambaugh's lawyer, William Jermain, says the chief tried to move up the closing hours of local bars from 5 a.m. to two a.m. after a spurt of drunk driving accidents and arrests.

"His crackdown on that practice by the bars was not appreciated by her and that was one reason she terminated Irl," said Jermain.