Meetings in the community and with the town's council through 2002 have been gradually moving toward shaping agreement on two items: one, should there be a referendum on alcohol consumption; and two, what the question should be.

The town's council will decide soon on holding a community vote, but the question's wording is not likely to be a yes/no on a 100 per cent ban, but whether the hamlet should restrict the amount of alcoholic beverages individuals can order into town.

That journey is near an end, says community wellness coordinator Rachael Horn.

"We're getting to the final stages to get the hamlet to agree to the final format," she says.

"There will be further meetings with the general public before hamlet council meets, Jan. 20."

Right now, Kugluktuk residents of legal age can order any amount of booze, beer or wine they can pay for.

There are many opinions, but the wellness centre has been onside to restrict amounts.

"There is a problem with alcohol in the community. Our monthly newsletter has been supporting the general public's wishes to have more control over alcohol use," Horn says.

The newsletter has reported on facts gathered from the RCMP and the wellness centre's own experiences to back up the call for restrictions.

"In October last year, Kugluktuk residents spent $35,000 on alcohol," Horn says.

"With a population of 1,200, that's a helluva lot, especially when you subtract the number of people under 18," Horn says.

In September-October, RCMP spent $50,000 on guard salaries and transportation to move prisoners out of the community.

Ninety-five per cent of those trips were alcohol related, Horn says.

Remove those trips from the police budget and the RCMP might have more money for other community policing, Horn says.

There are other community costs: 40 per cent of attempted suicides have been alcohol and drug related; and crime rates generally have doubled in 2002 from activity reported in 2001.

Horn admits that last statistic might be skewed because there has been a higher police presence in Kugluktuk with the addition of a fifth Mountie and an office clerk.

"Because police can spend more time out in the town, people are more willing to contact them about smaller crimes," Horn says.

If the costs are so much, why not go for a total ban on alcohol consumption?

Total ban a no-go "I think a restriction makes sense. A total ban wouldn't happen because the town is not ready to go along with that," Horn says.

Shutting down all drinking would just open up new problems.

"There would be too many problems with bootlegging and homebrew operations," Horn says.

Drinking abuse problems illustrate a generational gap, Horn says.

Most of the abuse occurs among people aged 25-35, Horn says.

The educational and recreational programs available for youth have made all the difference, she says.

"Five to 10 years ago there were a whole rash of suicides, and there wasn't much going on for youth.

"Now there's a youth centre and youth are spending a lot more time on recreation," Horn explains.

Generational booze gap

"There's a lacrosse league that's really taking off."

Teachers are an important factor in this, many of them coaching one sport or other: soccer, badminton, basketball, volleyball, cross-country skiing and so on.

"The 25- to 35-year-olds are the generation who missed all that: they didn't get much education and had no opportunities for recreation," Horn says.

"Life was boring so they fell into drinking and drug use."

To raise money for sports activities, the school took over the town's arcade.

The hamlet also runs the youth centre, complete with peer counselling.

"The thing to do is to get the rest of the adult population involved," Horn says.

"The 25-35 generation are the ones who could be working with youth, but aren't.

"Once they've stopped drinking, I'd like to train them so they can participate in these activities with the youth."