New Trooper report shows Alaska drug problem worsens

On Wednesday, state troops released their latest data on drug trafficking in Alaska. According to the annual report on drugs, the state faces increasing demand due to diminished resources for police and drug treatment. AST highlights its partnerships with other law enforcement agencies as a strategy to fill the gaps.

Listening now

At a press conference in Anchorage, Captain Michael Duxbury summarized the main points of the 2017 drug report.

"The problem is getting worse," Duxbury said of illicit drugs. "There are correlations with the increase in crime and the lethality of the problem increases."

Charts showing patterns of drug forfeiture, as well as images of heroin and potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, were found on both sides of the lectern. During his nearly three decades with the Troops, Duxbury said that law enforcement is grasping and unprecedented the volume of the Hard Drugs Act. From 2016 to 2017, the amount of heroin intercepted by the police has doubled. And these seizures represent only a small sample of drugs in the state.

Public servants are increasingly using the term "multiple drug use" to describe people who regularly consume multiple psychotropic substances. Although the Walker Administration has issued a disaster statement on the opioid crisis, Duxbury points out that the amount of methamphetamine seized last year has also increased five-fold.

"The opioid in the state of Alaska is the channel for talking about the problem of poly-drug use that we have," Duxbury said.

The Ministry of Public Safety has its own problems. In August, 50 of the 389 approved soldier positions were vacant, more than one-eighth. Financial reductions have limited travel to investigate cases, especially in rural areas. And there are fewer state prosecutors to judge cases.

In response, the soldiers intensified their collaborations with other federal, state and local partners. This means other law enforcement agencies, but also private sector and private sector entities in most places where drugs enter the communities.

"It happens in the airports, in the ports that take it to Alaska, and it also happens in the mail," said Duxbury.

Despite growing problems with hard drugs, the AST report of 2017 notes that alcohol remains the most common substance of abuse that contributes to Alaskan death. State public health officials note that the number of people who died last year from alcohol-related causes in the form of opioids or methamphetamine doubled.