Bethel voters on Tuesday again take up the question of just how much alcohol to allow into the hub city of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Alaskans wish them good luck, although it's hard to say how much difference the vote will make. That's not meant to discourage people in Bethel or anywhere else in the state from addressing the question.
Towns and villages in rural Alaska -- where alcohol abuse has had a devastating impact in suicides, homicides, sexual assault, child abuse and accidental deaths -- have for years struggled to control the flow of alcohol into their communities with mixed success. State law allows the local option, whereby communities can go wet, damp or dry.
Roughly, wet means possession and sale of alcohol are legal, within the state law. A wet community allows bars and liquor stores. Damp means no sales but possession is OK. Beverages have to be imported. Dry means no alcohol, both sale and possession banned.
Right now Bethel is wet, with a touch of damp. Residents can buy as much as they like from Anchorage stores or other sources and bars and liquor stores are allowed. Bethel voted to go wet in October. But in a January advisory vote, residents said they didn't want bars or liquor stores and the state has rejected every license application. Some supporters of wet status said they didn't want the state overseeing or limiting their purchases but didn't want a bar or liquor store in town, either.
Today, Bethel will decide if it wants to return to damp status, which means no sales and a limit on what residents can legally order.
That in turn may limit what's available to drinkers in outlying villages, and that's the kicker here.
Bethel officials have said wet status hasn't changed the crime rate much there but officials in other villages have said the open flow in Bethel has translated to lower prices, higher volume and more reports of child neglect and trouble at home.
If Bethel were to return to damp status, the flow to outlying villages might be reduced, because there's a monthly import allowance. The paperwork may be a pain, but the allowance is generous -- up to the equivalent of 14 fifths of hard liquor, 32 bottles of wine and five cases of beer per person per month.
An allowance like that won't leave anyone thirsty but might cut the flow to surrounding villages. Damp seems the status that Bethel wants anyway, and state oversight of purchases is a small price to pay for a little more domestic tranquility in the Y-K Delta. It's not solution, just a step back. Bethel voters should take it today.
BOTTOM LINE: Back to damp in Bethel? Vote yes.