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Alcohol Abuse In Alaska

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As we were first introduced to the Alaska Eskimo I noticed that there were no particular references in their early history about the use of alcohol or any other type of sinful treat, outside of tobacco. This is also, of course, relevant with the arrival of the Russians. This is quite interesting to me anyway. Alcohol is a big part of any culture, especially when we read about the beginnings.
Alcoholic beverages have been used by most cultures through most of their history. Now as with the typical outlook on alcohol in general, historically there were negative consequences associated with it. That doesn’t make it any less important to discuss than anything else. I guess where ever mankind has come together there has been a need for an escape …show more content…

In 1996, the most recent year for which data are available, alcohol consumption in Alaska was 2.63 gallons per person1; only eight States had higher rates, many of which are attributable to cross-border alcohol sales (Williams et al. 1998). Alaska’s consumption rate has been among the highest in the Nation in each year for which statistics exist. Although heavy alcohol use in Alaska is not restricted to Alaska Natives, alcohol abuse and its consequences are disproportionately high among this group, which constitutes approximately 15.7 percent of Alaska’s total population (Alaska Department of Labor 1996). One theory to explain the high rates of alcohol use among this special population faults the rapid industrialization that has taken place in Alaska. For many Alaska Natives, conflicts involving cultural identity as well as behavioral and lifestyle problems have resulted from adjusting to the rapid cultural changes. Since the late 1980s, Alaska has been among the five States with the highest annual rates of child abuse, accidental death, assaults, rape, and suicide, all of which have been linked to alcohol abuse. For example, 25 percent of all deaths in Alaska are alcohol-related (Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. More recently, of the 192 Native deaths (from any cause) that occurred in rural Alaska between 1990 and 1993, 128 (66.6 percent) were found to be alcohol related, the deceased had a blood alcohol concentration. In addition, Alaska Native men and women exceed other ethnic groups in Alaska with respect to alcohol-related problem behaviors, such as arrests for driving while intoxicated, alcohol-related accidents and injuries from automobile crashes, fishing-related accidents, and other causes of

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In the first video Sherman Alexie is asked a series of questions regarding alcohol. Sherman Alexie talks about his experience with alcohol he started by saying how drinking becomes a serious problem when it affects your relationship with people, job and school. He also talks about his family and tribe are filled will alcoholics. Some Indians think it’s a sort of stereotype they been label but Sherman says that there just in denial and indeed they have a drinking problem. In the second video it focuses on a specific reservation in South Dakota.

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(Beauvais, F) Some tribes are tolerant of deviant behavior, while others are not. This also contributes as to why some tribes drink more excessively than others. Over a 8 year period, the Indian Health Service

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However, even in the ancient times people disapproved of beer. Although egyptians enjoyed beer there was a strong disapproval of drunkenness. Scribes would publish rules or guidelines with titles such as "Take not upon thyself to drink a jug of beer…" This shows the politics behind drinking beer. You were expected to drink beer as it was a symbol of prosperity but you weren 't supposed to become intoxicated.

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Just 250 feet south, across the state-line in Nebraska, is the town of Whiteclay whose population of twelve residents and four liquor stores sold approximately 1,009 cans of beer per resident, per day (Murphy, 2013). The problem lies in that it is not the residents of Whiteclay consuming these insurmountable amounts of alcohol, but within the inhabitants of Pine Ridge. These businesses capitalize on the alcohol ban across the border by selling inordinate amounts of beer to the residents of Pine Ridge leading to binge drinking, homelessness, violence, and other associated

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Is consuming alcohol evil? Today alcohol is almost regularly consumed like water but we do take the necessarily precautions in order avoid disasters. Such as the age of consumption which is 21 and over, and we have laws against driving under the influence. Although tragic accidents have occurred because of the consumption of alcohol yet most American citizens would not necessarily call alcohol evil.

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Since they aren’t graduating and they go into the world without knowing what to do and since the unemployment rate is down they will go to drinking. The last thing that they stated was the fact that Native Americans don’t have medical insurance or access to health care so it makes it hard for them to get the help they need and if they are in pain then they can turn to alcohol to forget about the pain. “Unlike other cultures that have ingested alcohol for thousands of years, the relationship between indigenous Americans and alcohol is relatively new” (Alcohol: It 's Different For Native Americans). I find this a good problem because it makes sense they have built up a higher tolerance and they end up being addicted to them. There are many issues out there but

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A poll taken on July 2014 asked the public opinion of US adults for lowering the US legal drinking age from 21 to 18. Approximately 74% of the people opposed the idea, whereas roughly 25% of the people supported the idea ("Public Opinion" 1). The statistics indicate satisfaction among the majority of the people; however, with the current laws many issues arise that must be addressed concerning alcohol use. For starters, studies show an increase of dangerous drinking habits among young adults (Hall 2). In addition, the enforcement of the drinking laws and education on alcohol is insubstantial (Moyse, Fonder 3).

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