Alaskan Woman Dies After Mistaking Antifreeze for Home Brew

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 51-year-old Emmonak woman died after drinking antifreeze she mistook for home brew, Alaska State Troopers said.

Thelma Immamak's boyfriend, Franklin Murphy, also drank the toxic liquid with her on Sunday and was medevaced to Anchorage for treatment. His condition was not immediately available Tuesday.

The antifreeze was stored for unknown reasons in a soft drink bottle, according to trooper Teague Widmier.

Emmonak is a dry community, meaning sales and possession of alcohol are banned. The village is about 480 miles northwest of Anchorage.

Immamak and Murphy, 45, had been drinking home brew and thought that's what was in the beverage bottle, Widmier said. Troopers based in Emmonak investigated and didn't find anything criminal, according to Widmier.
 
Can the citizens of this place not even have alcohol in their homes if they buy it in another district ? if true, it sounds sort of extreme and might have contributed to this accident if the people were heavy drinkers.
 
Antifreeze is sickningly sweet and pretty nearly glows in color - how on Earth could you mistake it for homebrew?

*mumbles something about how their usual homebrew must be totally nasty...*
 
Jeana (DP) said:
There is a huge problem with alcohol with some of the native Alaskan population.
Alcoholism can make your taste buds sketchy. I once had an alcoholic boyfriend who drank an entire bottle of chocolate mint liquor which is at MOST tolerable to me in teeny tiny sips without gagging on the sweetness. I probably had the bottle 6 months - maybe had five teaspoons total out of it. He drank the rest in about 5 minutes. *gag*
 
txsvicki said:
Can the citizens of this place not even have alcohol in their homes if they buy it in another district ? if true, it sounds sort of extreme and might have contributed to this accident if the people were heavy drinkers.
Some Alaskan villages are very remote, so purchasing "supplies" might not be so convenient. Especially during the harsh winter months.
 
Being a resident of Alaska for 21 years (no longer) I can tell you that the alcohol in those small villages has to be flown in or barged in. There are no roads to the small villages. The reason they ban alcohol is because it is such a problem in the villages so for some of the NA or eskimos, they will try anything to get high. It is a sad fact and easy to ignore because most people will never travel there to see the way they live.

This is a sad story but I am not surprised.
 
Marstan said:
Being a resident of Alaska for 21 years (no longer) I can tell you that the alcohol in those small villages has to be flown in or barged in. There are no roads to the small villages. The reason they ban alcohol is because it is such a problem in the villages so for some of the NA or eskimos, they will try anything to get high. It is a sad fact and easy to ignore because most people will never travel there to see the way they live.

This is a sad story but I am not surprised.


I was only there for two years, but it was long enough to see the BIG problem with it. Very sad indeed.
 
I have an aquaintance who spent months is the hospital after accidentally taking a sip of antifreeze that had been poured into a coffee cup that still had some coffe in it while someone was working on a car. He thought it was his coffee and the sweetness made sense to him because he takes a lot of sugar.

The police were all over him and his friend for a while because accidental antifreeze poisoning is very very rare.
 
The alcohol problem in the Inuit community is sad. I knew a girl in high school who's grandfather drank cough syrup daily cause he couldn't afford alcohol. He died from an overdose.

I was watching a doco about this problem in Sibera...very eye opening.
 
BhamMama said:
The alcohol problem in the Inuit community is sad. I knew a girl in high school who's grandfather drank cough syrup daily cause he couldn't afford alcohol. He died from an overdose.

I was watching a doco about this problem in Sibera...very eye opening.
I had heard of "Robo dosing" where kids would drink lots of Robitussin in order to get (drunk? High?) whatever dextramathorophan does to you. I saw in the store the other day, they are now selling dextramathorophan by itself, over the counter, with no cough syrup ingredients. I bought it for my cough, but I was disappointed that they are making it even more available for the kids to do this.
 
GlitchWizard said:
I had heard of "Robo dosing" where kids would drink lots of Robitussin in order to get (drunk? High?) whatever dextramathorophan does to you. I saw in the store the other day, they are now selling dextramathorophan by itself, over the counter, with no cough syrup ingredients. I bought it for my cough, but I was disappointed that they are making it even more available for the kids to do this.
We did this some in college. It just made me sick. I surely don't get the appeal.

However, I'm pretty sure the DM that is NOT in cough syrup doesn't produce the same effect - it's actually safer and less appealing because there is no real high from taking to much DM. It's the DM mixed in with the other ingredients in the cough syrup, including the alcohol, that make you feel altered. And you have to drink the entire bottle.
 
southcitymom said:
We did this some in college. It just made me sick. I surely don't get the appeal.

However, I'm pretty sure the DM that is NOT in cough syrup doesn't produce the same effect - it's actually safer and less appealing because there is no real high from taking to much DM. It's the DM mixed in with the other ingredients in the cough syrup, including the alcohol, that make you feel altered. And you have to drink the entire bottle.
I was a goody two shoes. The only thing I know about cough syrup with DM in it is that when my daughter was little, I checked on her during her nap and saw red on the side of her mouth. I saw the lid was off the bottle of cough syrup with DM and I played heck waking her up. I was on the phone to poison control (in the middle of NOWHERE) freaking out because her eyes rolled back almost in her head. I had always thought that was a phrase, but not possible before. I FREAKED. I thought it was the DM that caused that.

Anyway, I drank wine coolers to get drunk - didn't ever try anything else. :)
 
GlitchWizard said:
I was a goody two shoes. The only thing I know about cough syrup with DM in it is that when my daughter was little, I checked on her during her nap and saw red on the side of her mouth. I saw the lid was off the bottle of cough syrup with DM and I played heck waking her up. I was on the phone to poison control (in the middle of NOWHERE) freaking out because her eyes rolled back almost in her head. I had always thought that was a phrase, but not possible before. I FREAKED. I thought it was the DM that caused that.

Anyway, I drank wine coolers to get drunk - didn't ever try anything else. :)
Well believe me when I say to you that wine coolers are a much tastier way to catch a buzz than robotussin! You're obviously smarter than me!
 
BhamMama said:
The alcohol problem in the Inuit community is sad. I knew a girl in high school who's grandfather drank cough syrup daily cause he couldn't afford alcohol. He died from an overdose.

I was watching a doco about this problem in Sibera...very eye opening.
Didn't Michael Dukakis's wife drink the type of alcohol you have in your medicine cabinet? :( Isopropyl something or other? She was desperate for alcohol from what I understand and the drinkable kind had already been removed from the home.

A thousand pardons requested if I have the wrong person in mind!
 
I had a girlfriend in H.S. that carried around "Cherocol" for a high. I have totally spelled that wrong, but it was cherry flavored cough medicine. I didn't try it because I hate cough med flavor. Blech.

I'm thinking the Alaskan woman was already drunk and must not have really looked or been able to taste the antifreeze? Who knows, but I hope that the manufacturers change this pronto.

I agree though, the neon green I've seen isn't something that looks desirable to me. Children and pets though....:(
 
Taximom said:
Didn't Michael Dukakis's wife drink the type of alcohol you have in your medicine cabinet? :( Isopropyl something or other? She was desperate for alcohol from what I understand and the drinkable kind had already been removed from the home.

A thousand pardons requested if I have the wrong person in mind!
You are right, Kitty Dukakis did drink rubbing alcohol. Which is scary because the liver turns Isopropyl into Acetone...the same stuff that can melt certain fabrics and take off nail polish. She had electroshock therapy but I'm not sure if it was for the mental health issues or for the alcoholism...or even if the mental health problems contributed to the alcoholism. I know I read she had depression badly.
 
Taximom said:
I had a girlfriend in H.S. that carried around "Cherocol" for a high. I have totally spelled that wrong, but it was cherry flavored cough medicine. I didn't try it because I hate cough med flavor. Blech.

I'm thinking the Alaskan woman was already drunk and must not have really looked or been able to taste the antifreeze? Who knows, but I hope that the manufacturers change this pronto.

I agree though, the neon green I've seen isn't something that looks desirable to me. Children and pets though....:(



Cheracol has codeine in it, its an opiate. You used to be able to get it over the counter in some states but you had to sign your name in a book and you were only allowed a certain amount within a certain time period.

One year the DEA came into the pharmacy where I used to work and seized the book on Christmas eve, and rounded up all the abusers (who got more than they were supposed to) for a nice Christmas surprise trip to jail.
 
Marstan said:
Being a resident of Alaska for 21 years (no longer) I can tell you that the alcohol in those small villages has to be flown in or barged in. There are no roads to the small villages. The reason they ban alcohol is because it is such a problem in the villages so for some of the NA or eskimos, they will try anything to get high. It is a sad fact and easy to ignore because most people will never travel there to see the way they live.

This is a sad story but I am not surprised.


Who bans the alcohol, our government or their tribal authorities? It looks like these people would have the same rights to purchase anything they want the same as everyone else even if they are alcoholics. I bought some herbal cough medication the other day and it is 25% percent grain alcohol. I wouldn't have thought that would be legal but the herbs elecampane and mullien sure cured my problem.
 

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