Well, I can't exactly document that claim, but I do have some familiarity with illegal alcohol sales in another Bush region, where those claims were perfectly true.  I once called the Alcohol Beverage Control Board about a remote liquor store that notoriously sold pickup loads of beer to single customers.  The "enforcement agent" I spoke to explained that the Board had exactly two people in his category: the other one did Anchorage, and he did the rest of the state.  Neither one had any travel budget at all.  "So," he said, "I won't be coming out to your area to look into these allegations."  

Why?  Well, the beverage industry, for whom the ABC Board works, wants it that way.  It's not at all concerned about public health, only about addressing industry concerns.  That, in turn, is because of industry lobbying and political donations.  I assume nobody is surprised at this; it's just how Alaska works.