›› Alaska: Drug Climate

Due to its location, Alaska is a transfer point as well as consumer a state with respect to controlled substances. With its separation from the rest of United States and shared border with Canada, Alaska unique. Cocaine distribution in Alaska is dominated by Mexicanand Dominican groups. Meth use and seizures are on the rise. Alaskans average among the highest per capita users of controlled substances. This corresponds to an equally high per capita rate of alcoholism and suicide when compared to the lower 48 States. Money laundering by drug trafficking organizations is also a major problem in Alaska.

• Cocaine
  In Alaska cocaine trafficking is controlled primarily by Mexican and Dominican trafficking groups. “Crack” cocaine is a major a threat to Alaskans. Many Drug Trafficking Organizations deal in both crack and cocaine, obtaining it from the lower 48 states. It sells in Alaska at greatly inflated prices due to the limited supply.
• Heroin
  Access is limited. Mexican organizations dominate the limited trade in black tar heroin. Heroin users have turned to Oxycontin as a substitute because of its greater availability.
• Meth
  In an attempt to limit meth manufactures Alaska has passed statutes limiting the sale of pseudoephedrine requiring that it be placed behind the counter. Many stores have chosen to remove all pseudoephedrine based products. The number of small lab seizures has indeed decreased. Methamphetamine is still readily available. The majority of meth for sale in Alaska is available from groups trafficking it from the lower 48. “Yaba” - Meth in tablet form is becoming available in Alaska, trafficked from Southeast Asia it is reportedly manufactured in Laos or Burma.
• Club Drugs
  MDMA or Ecstasy is not yet widely available and is being distributed in limited amounts by the same drug traffickers as those distributing cocaine, meth, and pot. LSD and GHB are also available in Alaska.
• Marijuana
  Marijuana is the most widespread illicit drug used in Alaska. In 2006, Governor Murkowski signed a bill into law re-criminalizing possession of marijuana. Almost all of the marijuana produced in the state is grown in indoors under climate controlled conditions. BC Bud smuggled from British Columbia is also a problem and widely available, especially locally in the Anchorage area.
• Pharmaceutical Diversion
  Prescription drugs are one of the most widely abused class of drugs especially by younger people. In Alaska diversion of legitimate pharmaceuticals continues through:
  - Illegal dispensing and prescribing by doctors and healthcare workers
  - By pharmacists
  - Forged prescriptions
  - “Doctor Shopping”
  - Thefts from pharmacies, nursing homes, and hospitals. Pharmacy burglaries are a problem statewide.
  - Pharmaceuticals purchased without a doctor’s prescription via the Internet are also significant.
  
  The prescription drugs most fequntlt trafficked include: oxycodones like OxyContin®, Percocet and Percodan, Hydrocodones such as Vicodin, and Lortab and anabolic steroids.

 

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