The speed, strength and athletic skill of the young people in the community is the stuff Inuit legends are made of. And yet, as alcohol continues to tighten its grip on the entire community, the risk of destroying such athletic talent is real.

"We have the number one athletes, the best athletes in Nunavut, but lots of them are into drugs and alcohol," said Margaret Havioyak, the hamlet's wellness counsellor.

"Everybody is using alcohol and everybody is affected by alcohol," she said.

Havioyak is one of the 120 community residents who attended a public meeting last Tuesday night to express concern about the drastic increase in alcohol consumption in Kugluktuk.

In recent months, alcohol import permits in Kugluktuk have tripled, increasing to 150-160 permits per month from 40-50. The result is continual, widespread drunkenness that causes people to miss work and children to miss school.

Because a retail liquor store does not exist in Nunavut, import permits are required before residents can ship booze in from Yellowknife.

Some people at the meeting wanted to put restrictions on the amount of alcohol going to the hamlet. Community wellness co-ordinator Rachael Horn said Kugluktuk residents are ready to ask hamlet councillors to hold a plebiscite in the new year.

Under the Nunavut Liquor Act, a plebiscite must pass with a majority of community support before hamlets have the authority to make changes to alcohol restrictions.

What has yet to be decided however, is the exact nature of the restrictions residents will be asked to vote on. Horn said the community was not in favour of a total alcohol ban, but seemed to prefer the idea of putting limits on the amount of alcohol residents can import from Yellowknife.

People had until the end of last week to submit their ideas to Horn. She will take those suggestions to the hamlet council meeting tonight. Council members will then discuss the plebiscite.

"The community has stated very positively that they want to move forward with putting restrictions on alcohol in the community," said Horn.

"The community is ready to go forward," she said.

Residents also suggested that an alcohol education committee (AEC) be developed, but that too, proved problematic 10 years ago.

"It worked well for a while, but when they started putting restrictions on certain individuals, people started getting threats. People weren't willing to get threats or end friendships over this," said Horn.