Until my recent trip to Anchorage, Alaska, I had never heard the term "Chronic Public Inebriate," yet in Alaska the word "inebriate" is spoken everywhere. It is so grafted in Anchorage's culture that even the homeless call themselves inebriates. At first it bothered me, but I soon learned that Anchorage's homeless problem is very complex, caused by severe alcohol addictions.
People who are normal drinkers and have never touched life with an alcoholic often think quitting booze is a choice. Unfortunately, the nature of alcoholism takes away any free will, making the alcoholic as dependent on alcohol as he is on air.
I was an abnormal drinker. One night at 14 years old, I drank a half gallon of whisky all by myself. That amount would kill most people. I never passed out, but I did black out. The next day my elbows were the size of softballs, swollen because I must have fallen most of the night. An experience like this should have been a warning, but I continued to drink.
At 17 years old, on New Year's Eve, the New York State Police found me passed out in a snowbank alongside a freeway. I could have died, yet I remember my only regret was that I never made it to midnight. Again, the seriousness of my problem didn't sink in. Even though alcohol could have killed me that night, I kept on drinking.
When I worked for Starcom Television, I plowed my Mercedes into a parked Cadillac. I blew a .28, which is three times the legal limit to drive. LAPD had me blow into a breathalyzer twice because they thought their equipment was broken. The officers said they had never seen anyone with such high alcohol content function as normally as I was. Sadly, even though I could have killed someone, I still didn't think I had a problem, and I still kept on drinking and abusing drugs until I ended up on the streets, homeless. Even then I needed help to get sober. On my own, I would have continued a life of drinking madness.
On my first day in Alaska, I wrote about watching a man stumble down the street so drunk he fell into a snowbank. We called 911, and the man was taken to what the city calls a "sleep-off." During my first two days, I visited with a few homeless service providers, met and interviewed Mayor Sullivan, and spoke to several people on the streets. The story that kept being told over and over again was not so much the issue of homelessness, but a severe alcohol problem among the Native Alaskans. I was told three of the homeless people found dead were found with empty Listerine bottles next to them. Listerine is 26.9 percent alcohol, making it approximately 54 proof. When stores are closed, or sale is refused, people addicted to alcohol drink Listerine. (Meet Kim on InvisiblePeople.tv)
Honestly, I was not ready. For close to 14 years I have been working in homeless services at some capacity. I have literally walked into tent cities all over America. But I had never seen homelessness through a cop's lens. In my interview with Mayor Sullivan, the topic of public safety came up, and I must agree with him that homelessness is not only a health issue but a public safety issue.
Sergeant Allen of the Anchorage Police Department allowed me to ride along with him to give a 12-hour warning at an illegal homeless camp. We met at a substation along with a local NBC news crew. Although I have ridden in police cars more than most, this was my first time being in the front seat. Sgt. Allen gave me the vest to put on, and a dispatch call came in for a drunk driver. He said there was not enough time for the rules and asked me to fill out a waiver. I simply asked for the do's and don'ts. Sgt. Allen responded, "If I get out of the car I want you to get out of the car. If shooting starts, I want you to run in the opposite direction!" That's easy enough, I thought, as the reality of what was about to happen set in.
I started to see a new side to homelessness. A side I knew was there, but had never experienced. As I walked into the camps, and as I talked to Sgt. Allen and his team, I started to see how dangerous and unsafe homeless camps are. Not all homeless camps. Nickelsville, for example, was self-governed and kept clean and orderly. But Nickelsville is rare. 
As I started to see homelessness as a public safety issue, I also started to feel for the people living in these camps. They'd have to move with nowhere to go. The one man who was 'home' didn't want to go on video. He told me his story, and it broke my heart. He didn't have any place to go, and I could feel his fear. He pointed at a twelve-pack of empty beer cans, telling me that was what had ruined his life. He couldn't stop drinking no matter how hard he tried, and he had lost everything. He had lost his job and his family, and now he was out in the cold with no place to go.
I have to tell you first hand that I was very impressed with Sgt. Allen and the Anchorage police. They have a hard job, and they were professional and showed compassion at all times. I know cops often get a bad rap, but I've seen compassion when working with Glendale Police and Greensboro Police.
After we left the camps, Sgt. Allen drove around Fairview, the section of Anchorage that has the most trouble. We found a man passed out next to a liquor store. I was impressed by how Sgt. Allen was firm, yet treated this man with respect. Sgt, Allen helped the man into the police car, and we drove to the "sleep-off" center. 
This is a section near the jail that is basically a large room with mats on the floor and a few chain link fences for separation. There is no official booking. A breathalyzer is given, and the person is then allowed to sleep until the alcohol wears off. I was told many of the "inebriates," as they are called, blow a .30 or higher and are still functioning. Unfortunately, this system is nonstop and far from a real solution. This man we brought in had been there the night before, and would probably be there the night after, and so on.
No sooner did we get in the car and start driving than we saw a man nosedive into the blacktop right in front of the car. I was trying to record a sound bite when this happened. As the tape starts, watch my eyes notice the man. I tried to recover the sound bite, but I think I was in shock and overwhelmed with everything. The second video is another attempt, but it was extremely hard for me to make progress. Sgt Allen, on the other hand, was cool, calm and professional. He makes many good points from his perspective.
Take Two:
The community is taking steps in the right direction. While I was there, the city changed a few zoning laws, paving the way for a "housing first" model to be established. I am also encouraged that homeless services providers from across the city are working together to find a solution. But the problem is severe. Being candid, I've never seen anything like it. Being that the issue is alcohol dependence at its worst, the normal recovery models may not work. I've read about wet shelters saving money and lives, so maybe that is the model of hope for Anchorage. I do know now that I very much want to visit and interview people running a successful wet shelter.
The people of Anchorage are some of the nicest I've ever experienced. I just pray that they can work out the issues and come up with a viable solution before more people die from alcohol. There is no easy solution to the complex issue of homelessness. It's impossible to make everyone happy, yet a compromise must be made and action must be taken soon.
Remember the self-disclosure of my own alcoholism at the beginning of this post? Well, this August I will have 15 years completely clean and sober. People can change for the better. But I'm only sober today because someone cared enough to love me when I could not love myself. Please, never give up on people -- even those of us who have trouble with alcohol.
Follow Mark Horvath on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hardlynormal
A total educational program about the substance, uses and consequences would help the next generation and to raise the purchasing age to 25 years of age would reduce the problems on all levels.
Rolf Krogsæther
Your compassion is amazing and inspiring.
One day, about a year or so before he died (last year)...he met some 'angels'. Nurses and warriors of the night who went out with medications and food and help searching for the regular homeless and offering them whatever help they could. He accepted them. He accepted their help. They helped him throughout the last year of his life...battling cancer...they treated him with dignity and respect.
His life changed. He was surrounded for the first time, maybe in his whole life, with people who loved him unconditionally and with open hearts. No fear. No negative. Awesome.
At his memorial, his 'angels' said repeatedly that it was not that they had helped him so much, as what he had done for them. He had changed their lives. He had brought them joy. And they loved him very much.
Such is the human spirit. Some people, such as yourself, Mr. Horvath, just blow me away.
Thank you for your article, and for, you.
'll never forget a conversation I had with my brother, just before he started his twenty year journey of living homeless. (Mental illness and childhood yuckiness were an integral part of his story.)
He told me that he had an 'ability' to see the good and the bad in people's eyes. He said he could see 'evil' as plain as day. And he said it drove him crazy. He could tell when people were lying to him and to others and it drove him crazy. He said it hurt him physically when he saw bad in people...and he was beginning to think there wasn't a good reason to not disassociate himself from everyone. He said there were more yucky people out there than good. And he said it was too hard for him to look at. He didn't want to be around people anymore.
I share this, I suppose, to offer a little peek into the mind of a man who chose homelessness. He battled alcohol addiction throughout the twenty years, too. The alcohol was medication, I think.
Even when offered help, he rarely wanted it; many times he rejected it.
Before there were fences, before there were regulations on when to fish, hunt and restrictions on where to live these people had paradise in their parents lifetimes.
I am glad you posted your comments. I did not have enough time to research everything, but from what I saw action is being taken now. you may be very well right, usually it takes a death or two for a community to take action. there were two deaths in two days this week. I sure hope they start making the changes soon
I deal with mental illness. I function highly in society, but it is always a close thing. So many people who abuse alcohol are also self medicating their own mental illness.
Nice article and keep up the good work.
Even worse, though, is the institutionalized madness that say's that everyone needs to be punished for straying from the straight and narrow.
Sweden has problems with alcoholism, it seems all northern climates do.
SADD is probably a big part of it.
Sweden has minimal free housing for everyone. That's a room, with a good door, and a public restroom and bath. Clean and Safe, but no amenities.
Sweden also prescribes "antibus" to chronic disorderly or self destructive drunks. It's a pill that makes alcohol intake cause vomiting. Seems severe to me, but the alternative is jail.
Since Pot is quasi legal in Alaska, I would work to move them from alcohol to pot.
Jesus gave out free wine!
So strange the faithful don't have Jesus's tolerance, compassion, charity and forgiveness.