Prohibition in Alaska is nothing new. Prohibition has been around since the 1980s, but now people have had enough. Not being able to purchase or even possess alcohol is too much for the majority. In his article “Is Prohibition a Good Idea After All?” Alana Semuels says prohibition isn't doing as well as people thought. His statement is true because banning alcohol is depriving Alaska villages of a large amount of money and not allowing villagers to find their own alcohol limits, which leads to massive alcohol consumption. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First of all, banning the sale of alcohol in Alaska villages is depriving the villages of a significant amount of revenue. According to an article published on the USA Today website, "annual alcohol sales amount to $5.5 million, which is equivalent to more than half of the city's annual budget" (In Remote Alaska…). This significant amount of lost revenue could instead be used by increasing police forces in Alaska villages to help enforce alcohol laws. Even more, it could help raise awareness in Alaska villages about alcohol abuse and alcohol-related assaults/accidents. Furthermore, there is no evidence that alcohol taxes in Alaska deter consumers from purchasing alcohol; in fact, the sale of liquor increases. In the article “Alaskans Drinking More Despite Higher Alcohol Tax, Drink Prices,” author Kyle Hopkins writes, “instead of cutting back due to added costs, Alaskans continued to drink. The tax on spirits doubled, but sales of whiskey, vodka and other spirits have grown 41% since then” (Hopkins). So taxing alcohol would not stop or discourage the purchase of alcohol, in fact it would most likely increase the purchase of alcohol, which would mean more revenue for villages that choose to lift the alcohol ban or even for those villages that choose to regulate sales. and alcohol consumption. Furthermore, the reintroduction of alcohol into Alaskan villages will slowly allow villagers to gain a sense of their own limitations. Since alcohol is not allowed in some villages, villagers are forced to binge drink whenever they come into contact with alcohol. In an article published on the USA Today website, it states: “They drink themselves to death or pass out in the subzero cold, where they can count themselves lucky if they simply lose a few fingers or a limb to frostbite” (In Remote Alaska…). Binge drinking is causing accidents as most Alaska Natives don't know how to handle their liquor. Reinstating liquor in Alaska villages would reduce villagers from feeling the need to binge and allow them to find their alcohol limits and ultimately be able to drink responsibly. You might think that villages that allow the sale, consumption and possession of liquor would have more assaults, murders and suicides since there is more access to alcohol but this is actually not true. In an article published by the Associated Press, regarding a study on safety in arid villages compared to "humid" or wet ones, we read: "They have shown that suicides, murders and road accidents are more frequent on reservations that they ban alcohol” (Study Discovers Alaska…). In fact, it has been shown that villages that ban alcohol have more murders and suicides than those that allow the sale, consumption and possession of liquor. Here.
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