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Here we are once again talking about an issue that I spent eight years working on as a councilman and then as Mayor. This topic is dealing with issues surrounding alcohol addiction as well as other drugs but mostly alcohol. The reason for this letter is my reading the long article in the Casper Star 9/16/25 titled “Riverton City Council to focus on reducing crime.” I do not have the space to discuss all the topics in this article but will try to cover what I feel are the major ones.
First, it is a well-documented fact that Riverton leads the state in alcohol abuse and the resulting community problems. It is also well known that many of those addicted are frequent flyers. These offenders accumulate fines and jail time that does not solve the problem. They have no way of paying the fines or getting free from their addiction and they need our help. We ignore these needs and do NOTHING to deal with them. We occasionally hold meetings, wringing our hands and as the final comment in the Casper article says “The City leaders agreed to continue discussions…..” Great!
While I was with the city, long before Volunteers of America were involved Mayor Bill Eichler and many citizens created the original crisis center. It was not perfect, but it saved a lot of lives and saved the city thousands of dollars each year as it allowed our officers to pick up a drunk but not arrest them. It gave these citizens a safe place to spend the night and sober up under the supervision of a trained staff person which was the “Christian” thing to do. They got some counseling regarding their addiction and in many cases built positive relationships with the community. At this time the city is paying nothing to the crisis center and is the reason that an addicted individual and the city have no place to go except to jail.
As Mayor I tried everything to come up with a way to pay for treatment when the client becomes willing to accept it. The only idea that I could come up with that stood a chance of solving the problem was the following. In the United States, Wyoming has the lowest tax on beer of all the 50 states. This tax is 2 cents a gallon and has not been raised since 1935. With 128 fluid oz in a gallon, a little over 10, 12oz beers are taxed at 2 cents. By raising that tax to a reasonable level we could be paying for the needed rehabilitation or funding for a local rehab center. Councilman Johnson’s suggestion of using the Job Corps building for this purpose is a great idea.
To read articles like this is very discouraging to those of us that have fought this battle for years. It seems as a community we are incapable of learning anything.
Signed,
Ron Warpness