It is not our culture

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by Rhett Jackson

Liquor was not meant for us. My Ap’a would always tell me that “using those stuff will give you no fun, and hard answers when you’re sober.”

I don’t think they should have even opened a liquor store in Bethel at all. They were bad news when they first came to Alaska. If we didn’t have liquor, we probably would have all been together and talked about the future for Alaska, and not drink to waste time.

Alcohol is not our culture.

Marijuana is bad, they should not open a marijuana store. The reason why they should not open one is that kids are smoking now a days. They will crave more. Seeing kids, adults, and elders just sitting there with baggy eyes and unrespectful. Smoking too much will make smoking everyday. Even in school, students smoke.

To tell you the truth, I saw what was right and wrong.

Marijuana is a very bad influence. It can lead you to do different kinds of drugs and ruin your life. That is why I don’t want a marijuana business or even to open another alcohol business in Bethel.

The reasons why I wrote this is because it is all true. Life may be hard, and that does not mean you can just drink it off or smoke it. I see what I see, and you don’t. You think you know the answer about everything, but look at yourself.

You drinkers, smokers, drug users.

Just ask yourself: how does that make a better you? I want to respect my family.

Drinking can cause damage to your families, violence, depression, feeling like you are losing your community, your body will ache, and it will be poison to your life.

Marijuana is not the point of healing. Marijuana can destroy your system and cause damage to your lungs, brains, body, and heart. All you guys think it will not hurt you, but wait till you see when you guys are old.

Another reason I disagree with a marijuana shop is because it would easily be bought by older people. Not only that, kids will be bribing people who can buy marijuana or alcohol for them. Kids who do that stuff will move to the next level, where they move to other drugs.

Every single day when I walk around Bethel, I see nothing but drunks during the day and at night. They have trouble getting up and they are getting soaked, and it’s cold out.

That is the reason why I don’t want another liquor store open or don’t open one at all, and I feel the same about a marijuana store.

They destroy a lot of things, especially family.

I know I’m not the only person who knows about this, so let’s make a stand and break it down. I want Alaska to be Alaska without alcohol and marijuana.