Alaska - Are drugs a Big Problem among residents or

[gobrien]

I hardly know of any parents of teenage kids that my daughter knows at school that don't smoke pot. In front of their kids. It's legal here, you know. It almost always has been.

[Metlakatla]

A lot of people throw all drugs in together, but I'd rather live next to weed smokers than meth freaks any day.

It isn't the people who are indulging in a bit of weed who are going out doing violent stupid **** and making their neighborhoods vile places to live -- that would be alcoholics and meth idjits.

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

A lot of people throw all drugs in together, but I'd rather live next to weed smokers than meth freaks any day.

It isn't the people who are indulging in a bit of weed who are going out doing violent stupid **** and making their neighborhoods vile places to live -- that would be alcoholics and meth idjits.

I agree, weed should be legal in my opinion. I just don't know what to think about using it in front of kids.... Is it bad or harmless? Not sure.

[jdhpa]

Originally Posted by gobrien

I agree, weed should be legal in my opinion. I just don't know what to think about using it in front of kids.... Is it bad or harmless? Not sure.

It's ~same as getting drunk in front of kids.

[Rance]

Curing cancer with cannabis! Some interesting info.

Phoenix Tears

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by gobrien

I agree, weed should be legal in my opinion. I just don't know what to think about using it in front of kids.... Is it bad or harmless? Not sure.

I think it may be one of those things that depend more on how it's done rather than if it's done. All things being equal, a little weed consumption in view of the children isn't going to wreck their lives, but it shouldn't take place until they're old enough to be able to think clearly and objectively about it, so I wouldn't suggest doing it around children younger than 35.

Seriously, so many factors come into play that there's no one-size-fits all answer. Depends on the kid (s), the social ambiance of the family home in general, even the type of community. Personally, I believe that adults should be adults and are entitled to their (safe and sane) relaxation methods of choice once the children are safely tucked in bed.

Parents who are too open about it frequently don't want to be seen as "hypocrites," but I think they're really burdening their children with too much information. The exception to this could be medweed.

When my child was growing up, I preferred that others not indulge in his presence. I got some flack for it, of course, because our friends and family included quite a few who believed it should be accepted everywhere. I felt the same about alcohol use as well, though. Some things are just best left for adult time.

[soci3tycat]

Anchorage is largely sectored into 4 quadrants: North, East, South, and West. South is generally the safest and most coveted side of town. The other coveted part of town is the Coastal Trail and Turnagain area on the west side. The East and North sides are known to be more "crime-ridden" areas, but they are also generally lower-income areas. So, that's the typical correlation you see. They are trying to clean up the North side by installing lots of malls and business, we shall see if this works. It's too far from where I am though, so I barely make it up there. As usual, there are bigger drug problems in more impoverished parts of town. There isn't an enormous drug problem on the "nicer" parts of town, but of course, there are privileged high schoolers who recreationally abuse drugs. This is not an Anchorage-exclusive phenomenon, however, and is commonly seen amongst many privileged high school teens who choose a partying lifestyle.

Here is the skinny on the sides of town, that I've written in other posts. I hope it's a little helpful:

"If money is not an object, I recommend either the south side or west side. If you don't have children or they're grown and you can live afford living on the coastal trail or turnagain on the west side, these are desirable neighborhoods with quick access to the coastal trail and other outdoorsy things. the coastal trail is a beautiful place to bike/walk/hike on during spring and summer. I'm not from the west side, so I can't give an accurate range for Turnagain Homes. Coastal Trail homes are in the millions.

On the south side, there are some wonderful upscale neighborhoods that accommodate dogs wonderfully. There is the Discovery Bay neighborhood which has to own dog park and view of the ocean. Most owners here have dogs and walk them to the park and to the ocean & mud flats. There's also more "mountainous" and outdoorsy type neighborhoods on the upper hillside, like on Lilac Drive. Discovery Bay homes on the cheapest end start at 600,000 and go to 4,000,000. The higher end is for the homes directly on the ocean coast. The average home in this neighborhood is probably $800,000. Lilac Drive is slightly pricier than Discovery Bay.

South Anchorage is very popular for families, especially with children K-12. There are a few reasons for this. South Anchorage has the densest population of highly rated schools (7-10) as opposed to other sides of town. It is the newest part of town, I believe. Many people with families like to live on "upper or lower hillside" or "bayshore area." The hillside areas are districted to South Anchorage HS, which according to US news is the #1 ranked high school in Anchorage. Bay shore is split between South Anchorage HS and Dimond. These are supposed "rival schools." Dimond is a bit older than South (South was opened in 2004), and has a 7 of 8 ranking on the "good school scale."

West High School, on the other hand, while they do have an IB program, the school itself has a wide range of student performances and has a 3 or 4 on the good school scale. Amongst high schoolers, East High is known to be the worst of the major schools and in a less desirable part of town.

There is a culture of relative wealth on the south side. For example, if you see the SAHS Wikipedia, the school reported only an 8% of students qualified for being underprivileged. The school is also known for its hockey program, occasionally sending students to Canada to join teams."

[adaminandout]

From what i've seen it is like anywhere else. Pretty much you are going to run into people doing XYZ and of course you wanna stay away but i dont think it is an OUTRAGEOUS problem... I just say stay aware and in tuned and you should be ok