Walker said the state government risks spending all of its savings if it denies there’s a problem and hopes for oil prices to rise.
Alcohol & Substance Abuse
New alcohol healing center opens in Bethel, renewing hope for recovery
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Ayagnirvik Healing Center is a larger facility than the community has had in the past. It comes with 16 inpatient treatment beds, outpatient counseling rooms, a gym, a kitchen and other recreational facilities.
Troopers thwart attempted alcohol importation to Elim
Alaska State Troopers thwarted two attempts to import alcohol to the community of Elim over the weekend. Troopers seized an estimated total of 10 liters of alcohol in Nome Sunday, Jan. 8, in two separate incidents: one, an estimated 7 liters, the other about 3 liters.
Counterfeit prescription drug found in Alaska contained fentanyl
Late last month the state’s crime lab confirmed that a counterfeit prescription opioid tablet was found in Alaska. The small blue pill looked like a generic oxycodone tablet but was actually made of the much stronger drug fentanyl. This is the first such pill found in the state, but they’ve been circulating in the Lower 48 for more than a year.
Study finds disturbing trend in mortality rate in Kusilvak Census Area
The rate of suicide and homicide in the Kusilvak Census Area, located along the lower Yukon River, more than doubled since 1980, a rate increase higher than anywhere else in the nation.
A Peer Recovery Coach Walks The Front Lines Of America’s Opioid Epidemic
Charlie Oen was addicted to heroin as a teenager. At 25, he’s now clean and a peer counselor in Lima, Ohio, where he tries to help people who started using drugs before he was born.