Should an anti-heroin group take donations from a beer festival?

JUNEAU — The party was on at the Juneau Rotary's Capital Brewfest.

There was a stage, live music and a large room packed with people drinking from short glasses of beer. The organization Juneau – Stop Heroin, Start Talking passed out koozies that said "BEER AND BACON ARE 100% BETTER FOR YOU THAN HEROIN."

The group fights against heroin abuse and will take a quarter of the money raised from the brew fest.

Its participation raised the question: Is it appropriate for an anti-heroin group to take donations from a beer festival — especially considering Alaska's high rates of alcoholism?

Adam Buechler wasn't too concerned.

Keg at the Capital Brewfest Saturday: "It's weird, but a lot of programs will substitute one addiction with another and I think the majority of people will agree that beer is a better addiction than heroin," Buechler said.

Hailey Ward was on vacation from her job at a homeless shelter in Calgary, Canada. She's a nurse and said addictions are her specialty. The koozies caught her off guard.

"Heroin is not something I joke about," Ward said. "It's something I see as a very serious thing in my work environment, so mixing my vacation life, going to a beer festival and seeing them almost joking about heroin, yeah, it caught me for a moment for sure."

Still, she said it's a beer festival and she wasn't offended.

"I'm also here so I can't be like, 'Oh I'm very offended about this,' " Ward said.

Izzie Felstead thought the koozies had a good message.

"I thought it was really cool because I don't use koozies very much but if I'm going to have a koozie at least it says something better than like 'Drink beer,' " Felstead said.

She also liked the rubber wristbands making the rounds.

"I have a wristband that says 'Stop Heroin, Start Talking,' " Felstead said. "I think that's a better message because kids will wear them rather than having something they have to put on a beer."

Each year the Juneau Rotary partners with another organization to help throw the brew fest. The partner gets 25 percent of the money the festival raises. Rotary officials said historically, the event has raised about $25,000.

But should Michele Morgan's organization, Juneau – Stop Heroin, Start Talking, take that money?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported Alaska has one the highest rates of binge drinking in the country. The state reported in 2010 Alaska had the highest rate of fetal alcohol syndrome.

Morgan agreed that alcohol can be dangerous but said the brew fest is a legal event and it gives her a chance to spread her message.

"I did the bacon fest and we did the same thing, 'Bacon is 100 percent better for you than heroin.' Anything is better for you than heroin. I mean, it can kill you with one mistake," Morgan said.

She said she will go to any event to spread awareness and try to save the next generation from the dangers of heroin.

"I don't eat bacon. I don't eat farmed meats, but I did bacon stickers for the bacon fest. I did the beer ones for the beer fest. I don't drink beer," Morgan said.

Morgan got one complaint about the brew fest. She said a woman whose son is an addict emailed her and said she was upset by the organization taking part.

"We talked and I explained to her, 'These are decisions. Not everyone is an alcoholic,' " Morgan said. " 'These people here, alcohol is legal in the United States. I'm not the one who makes it legal.' "

She told her the opportunity to bring awareness to a new group of people and get some much-needed money for their cause was huge. And she's thankful for it.

"We talked and emailed and she actually understood and apologized, and said 'I understand. This event is happening. If this is an adult event and these people are maintaining and doing well, why do we have to take that away from shining a light on how horrible heroin is?' " Morgan said.

Morgan said the money she gets from the Rotary will help fund her awareness campaign. It will also help in a new venture. She and a woman whose son died from heroin abuse are planning to take the message into Juneau's schools.

She wants to talk about the state's report that Southeast Alaska saw a near 500 percent increase in Hepatitis C cases in five years. The report links the increase to injection drug use.

Note: KTOO is a sponsor of Capital Brewfest. This story first appeared on KTOO Public Media and is republished here with permission.