Letter to the Editor
Speaking for inebriates
Published Monday, June 30, 2008
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Stumble It!June 28, 2008
To the editor:
It seems that Fairbanks is seeking a solution to the chronic inebriate dilemma. Which of the people on the Alcohol Impact Area Committee is the inebriate who is speaking on behalf of his/her peers? Has anyone consulted the people who will be most directly impacted by any decisions this committee reaches?
Of course some of the inebriates have mental health problems, just as there are mental health problems in every other segment of society. Where else can these people go? Does Fairbanks have a mental health hospital of some kind where they can get treatment? Not that I know of. So, they are forced to go on the street where they have at least a modicum of help and support from others. The committee should push for a mental health facility for all people with severe mental problems.
Of the half-dozen or so chronic inebriates living in Fairbanks that I know personally, I hope the committee leaves them alone. These are very nice people who have made choices different than what I would choose for myself. Why must they be forced into “treatment” or jail? Increased funding is needed for the Community Services Patrol. They actually help these people when it is needed and these people know they can call the Community Service Patrol when a friend or acquaintance is in need. Otherwise, leave them alone.
As to being a drain on the system’s resources, the chronic inebriates are a lot less drain than your former mayor, Jim Hayes. They are less of a drain than the big oil companies who are making huge profits off every gallon of gas or heating oil you buy. All things considered, these people are probably less of a drain on your resources than any other group of people.
Community Discussion
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Safety has to be addressed for all concerned. It's not safe to be on the streets for any reason. A mental hospital might be nice but it comes down to money. If there is money to build one, there would need to be money to staff it and run it. And then there's the issue of people that can't pay for the help the hospital could give. Those are the very people you're asking the facility to be built for, right? So round and round we go. We have no where to take these people to give them help, it's not safe for them to be on the streets...so what do we do with them? I don't think leaving them alone is the answer.
Virginia,
You have spoken with wise words! currently us little people, who work here in Fairbanks are about to be mauled by the city governments too, with their huge unnecessary expenses, that we have pay for, but when it comes to mental health problems, there is only one way, which is our "gift" to them.
God bless
To quote you "All things considered, these people are probably less of a drain on your resources than any other group of people."
Really, have you asked anybody in Fairbanks who your half-dozen or so personal chronic inebrieated friends have had dealings with...didn't think so.
The chronic inebriates are draining more than just money in this town.
Ask the store owner who just had the mouthwash stolen again and now gives everybody a hard time.
Ask the family of the intoxicated female who won't let her in to see her newborn grandchild because she is sloppy drunk again.
Or the nurse who has to put up with this female who is at the ER for the 6th time this month because they found her passed out by the Visitor Center. Nice for the tourist don't you think.
The police officer who grumbles, they don't pay me enough to be a taxi and drives this person around looking for a safe place to sleep instead of taking that drunk driver off the road that may cause an accident.
The CSP driver who hurts his back getting an intoxicated male into the van and now will be off work for 2 weeks.
The correctional officers who have seen this person 3 times in the last 2 days for sleepoff and have to fight with this person every time just to get their shoes off.
The 1 jail nurse who is pressured to take every intoxicated individual that CSP or police bring in, no matter what the persons medical or mental health problems may be and hope the medical history they got from the patient is true.
The Detox nurse who see this intoxicated person for the 3rd time this week with the same drunken promise that they will stay until their sober and get into treatment only to have them get their clothes washed, eat, sleep, shower, get meicated and leave the next day and then do it all over again. Detox is not a hotel, although many use it as such.
The mental health worker who treats this person with medication and wnders if they drink tonight or not because they have no sober environment to go to.
Everybody this person touches, their lives are touched too, and so on.
Kinda hard to see that from Ft Yukon isn't it.
The commitee will leave the half-dozen or so you know alone and focus on the 20 or so that are left. And I guess this means that you are voluntering to take care of and responsibility for those half dozen. After all winter is comming and they are going to need a warm, safe place to sleep. You don't want them to go to jail or get "forced" into treatment and heaven forbid turn their life around and become a valuable member of society and establish a better relationship with their families.
What could be worse.......
(Sorry its so long)
Ravyn86, I guess you were born in 1986 but this is the deal. The institutions in the city is not working, See your our own FCC.
Why do you think these people come back for more? We created this monster because we sold them alcohol and did not give them the proper manual. If I gave you a modern unknown vehicle and it's capable of flying to Mars would you get on board? I guess not. We sell alcohol for city tax to fund ourselves so whats the difference? Can we give a small amount to help for our mistakes?
"ye have the poor with you always." Get used to it. Deal it. You can't "cure" them. The best you can do is try to minimize the suffering for everyone concerned, including the homeless, the tourists, and society in general.
As long as alcohol exists, there will be no such cure for "chronic inebriation!" That IS the bottom line!
If the wise writer knows so many of these people and feels so sorry for them...maybe we can send them to Ft Yukon with her!
Problem solved for the city
Ravyn86, add up the amount of government salaries spent for all the people you mentioned and divide by 25 or so homeless. The homeless provide many paychecks for non profit workers in Fairbanks. If there were no homeless, what an economic disaster this would be for some of these non profits in this town who make their livings of them. People will complain about them, without ever thinking about the economy they bring to Fairbanks. If your paycheck was dependent upon them, would you really want them off the streets.
woodman, that is about the weakest thing I've ever heard. Are we to thank the drunks for providing jobs?
allen,
I disagree entirely with your assertion that ALCOHOL is the problem. Individuals getting drunk and failing to adhere to societal norms are the problem.
The vast majority of individuals who drink do so without requiring any intervention by family members, law enforcement officers, community patrols or any other "nanny" service providers.
You gave them alcohol without the pamphlet? What? That is a cop out, quit making excuses for people and starting holding them accountable. No one put the bottle in thier hand and no one can take it out until they are willing to let go.
"Does Fairbanks have a mental health hospital of some kind where they can get treatment?"
Ummm, ... do you think they would pay for it even if we had one? Oh wait, I didn't read your entire letter, here's my answer...
"Why must they be forced into “treatment” or jail? Increased funding is needed for the Community Services Patrol."
How about those responsible for the existence of CSP paying for it? After all, ...
"...these people know they can call the Community Service Patrol when a friend or acquaintance is in need."
It sickens me that some in our society expect government programs to bail them out of the misery they themselves have created. Tragic that anyone should believe they are entitled to free services over another.
How about we buy them a one-way ticket to Ft. Yukon and you deal with them on your dime, not mine? We would also put a restriction on their return travel until certified as alcohol free for one year.
There you go ... a valid solution that works for everyone.
Safety has to be addressed for all concerned. It's not safe to be on the streets for any reason.
Surely you jest?? I do not spend any time downtown anymore since it was destroyed in the early 80s, but back then when there were many, many bars on 1st, 2nd, 3rd streets, it was ALWAYS safe to walk downtown!! Wonder what has happened that now, they have torn down everything but the Mecca, and now it is unsafe to be on the streets for ANY reason?!?! I have never feared for anything downtown, but as I said, when they finally closed the Elbow Room, and it had just all died for me. I do not drink heavily anymore, but did for years. I am with Virginia on this one, leave them alone, they arent hurting anyone.
Oh, and sending people to the Fort for a year to dry out is certainly not the answer, it never did for me!! LOL
We should all be thankful that there are not 10,000 inebriates on the sidewalks,
Go anywhere else in America and you will see that we actually have it really good.
Most of the people you see drunk around town are harmless and mind their own business-
Town drunkards have been around for centuries, this will continue no matter what anyone in this city does- unless we "herd" them somewhere else,
wait a second, if I am not mistaken, didn't the Nazi's "herd" other unwanted folk off the streets? hmmm...
Maybe us "better" people should stop while we can, and yes, the inebriates are human beings guaranteed by the constitution of the U.S. to be equal-some of these people are veterans, mothers, fathers, etc. They just have a disease called Alcoholism- a spiritual malady. Pray for them.
I say put them in jail dry them out and next offense they stay simple as that.
What if the money were used to set up homes with no restriction regarding their alcohol use. This has proven successful in many cities around the US. In Fairbanks, the non profits have told them if you drink you will be homeless. You may find it not only saves money, but may actually help. By the way, take a look at the federal and state money spent on this and then tell me it doesn't provide money to this community.
I think that authenticalaskan is right when he says that it could be a lot worse. Many cities have many more drunks and alcoholics than we have. (The part about the Nazis is a little off base. We're not talking about Jews, Gypsies, or homosexuals here. Or death camps.)
I can live side by side with the drunks and alcoholics. I've been known to knock a few (drinks) back. Just dont puke on my shoes, or try to bum money. And dont blame me when you drink yourself to an early death.
Ravyn86, I think I know you. Thank you for illustrating the "chain of custody" for a drunk person found on the streets of Fairbanks. Woodman states that the drunken homeless then provide JOBS...the truth is, all of the officers, nurses, et cetera that spend time and resources taking care of the drunk person would STILL have jobs (and have better use of resources at hand) if the drunk wasn't in the picture.
Dealing with inebriates is an afterthought at the both the hospital and the jail, and while the staff at both places do it skillfully, I believe that the trained personnel at both facilities have other things to do to keep the public safe. If one of my family members were to die in the ER because all of the available nursing staff was trying to contain a belligerent drunk, I'd be a little upset. If you have 5 cops on shift in the city, and TWO are responding to drunk people passed out in our city parks, is that a wise use of resources? If there are only 15 or so guards standing between the inmates at the jail and the public at any given time...do we REALLY need to utilize 4 of them to get a man or woman into the "drunk tank" without shoelaces? Woodman is right about one thing...we need a "flophouse", a safe place for drunks to sleep it off without imposing liability on ANYONE but the drinker.
Well, I imagine it will be worse this year. I figure after struggling to pay my heat this winter I may just decide it is cheaper and more rational to become a chronic inebriate.
Anyone with me?
sherry29---
That's funny. I mean it.
You may be right on the money. People in depressed societies have been known to turn to the bottle. You got me thinking about those poor Russians drinking vodka for breakfast. No hope, except to get drunk and forget.
We might end up having to choose between a gallon of gas and a pint of rotgut. I'd like to think that I'd pick the gas, but who knows...
Who knows? I thank the person for saying "we should pray for them" but I think we should pray for us all.
"I say put them in jail dry them out and next offense they stay simple as that."
kgage, that is a cold and no-very-well-thought-out comment.
Permanent housing at the jail. Have you looked into the COST to house an inmate in our jail system?
As I understand it, Fairbanks does not have a law against public drunkenness. Yet you propose to permanently jail soeone who has broken no law? What about those who drink and DRIVE, which IS against the law? Do you propose the same "next offense they stay" solution for them, also? Do you actually think Fairbanks' "social" drinkers would allow such a law to pass?
I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do feel that there should be compassion for those that make different choices.
In the town that I grew up in there was a park downtown where the inebriates would gather at night (and also where the cops would tell them to go). The park was a nice place with ball fields and such, durring the day the inebriates were out of the picture (probably sleeping it off somewhere), and the park was a great place. At night the inebriates would show up and hang out, in a comfortable place with benches, bleachers, streetlights etc...and also with police patrols going by regularly.
this may not be the best solution but it helps to reduce the conflicts between inebriates and the rest of the public, and with police patrols allows for inebriates to flag down a passing officer for help should the event arise. This would also provide for a high traffic place for inebriates, so hopefully passerbys could help if there were problems rather than having people freeze to death hiding in the woods or under bridges.
Who cleaned up the vomit and the feces?
Didn't Anchorage a year or so ago in the summer put up a designated area as a homeless camp? They were facing the same problem. Does anyone have any information regarding the outcome? At least the US is not like some countries where the government has decided that termination is the solution to this population group when it becomes out of control or a nusiance.
Remember the 'chain gangs', 'road gangs' from the jails, now we cannot have them do squat because of 'their rights'. Well, maybe it is something the organizations could/should look into - for those who are 'littering/loitering' the streets of Fairbanks to go out with the Community patrol and/or organizations to clean up their own messes...City wide clean up!
Sorry, I think my point was missed. The people who alcoholics touch are affected after time also and that was what I was trying to show. They are hurt physicaly, emotionaly, mentaly and yes financialy. What would happen if those people who lives the inebriates touched changed, it would affect everyone around them too...even you sooner or later. That was my my point and I don't think you can honestly put a dollar amount on those "resources".
We need the Transfer Station back.