Facts: Spring Break Madness
Photograph by Alaska State Troopers and Beth Ipsen
- Marijuana, ounce for ounce, sells for as much as gold in Alaska.
- In the 1996 Big Lake wildfire, 20 of the 400 buildings that burned contained marijuana grows. If that figure is representative of the whole Matsu Valley, that would mean that there are over 1,200 pot farms.
- A good crop of weed in Alaska can sell for $3,000-$4000 a pound.
- An ounce of weed in Alaska can sell for $360.
- First time offenders of marijuana grows can expect probation, community service and a fine of $2,000 a pound.
- Of the 144 grow busts in Alaska last year, 97 were in the borough. One of which turned up more than 1,300 plants.
- Troopers and Highway patrol opened 54 cases in connection with Arctic Man this year.
- Marijuana is the most abused and widespread drug in Alaska.
- In Alaska, snowmobile injuries hospitalize between 40 and 50 youth per year and are the third leading cause of injury hospitalization.
- There is a high demand for Alaskan-grown marijuana because of its high THC content.
- Local law enforcement can only estimate the extent of marijuana abuse because less than 5% of the marijuana in Alaska is grown outdoors. This makes detection much more difficult.
- Alaska has 15 national parks, preserves, and monuments covering a total of 54 million acres. In fact, 65 percent of the state’s land is federally managed.
- It is estimated Alaska has six times as many pilots per capita and 16 times as many aircraft per capita as the rest of the nation.
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High-Speed Chase
Troopers pursue a felon in a high-speed chase and track down lawbreakers across Alaska’s dense wilderness.
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