What’s
the Meth Problem like in Blackfeet Country?
Is
it “Under the Carpet?”
“Yes
it [meth abuse] is an epidemic as far as I am concerned…it’s a choice drug here
on the reservation,” says Richard
Rutherford, the police staff Sargent on the Blackfeet Indian reservation.
But, the problem of meth abuse on the Blackfeet reservation is not necessarily as easy to see as it is on other reservations in Montana, many told me. Or maybe it is just “ignored” as Linda Dusterhoff, nurse practitioner, stated. “Under the carpet,” is the way a counselor in the Blackfeet treatment center describes the problem. Whatever the case may be, every person I talked to believes that meth abuse is on the rise and will soon be a major drug problem for the Blackfeet.
The
problem of crank abuse is not so out-in-the-open especially in terms of
treatment. Counselors in both treatment
centers, the Blackfeet Chemical Dependency Center and Pikuni Family Healing
Center, said that people coming in with meth addiction exclusively, are
rare. More commonly a person comes in
for treatment for alcohol abuse and later on in the therapeutic process reveals
that they also suffer from addiction to methamphetamines. This aspect of meth abuse, addiction to more
than one drug, is frequently termed poly-substance abuse. Poly-substance abuse is also demonstrated in
the emergency room at the I.H.S. hospital.
Emergency room workers report that injuries from crimes such as domestic
abuse are attributed to alcohol when actually there was meth abuse
involved.
Where
does this Meth come from?
Another aspect of
methamphetamines that is “under the carpet” is the topic of meth labs. The police, counselors, and I.H.S. workers,
say the possibility of a clandestine lab in the Browning area is high. However, none have been located. “There are rumblings in the community on the
reservation that there are [meth labs].
But right now it is so easy to come across the mountain,” Linda Dusterhoff explained.
Most of the meth comes in
from Tacoma and Seattle; it is so easy for it to come over the mountains that
meth labs are unnecessary. Wayne C.
Dusterhoff, under sheriff for the Glacier County described the meth route,
“Browning, Montana, is probably the focal point for narcotics because it comes
from Seattle, Yakima, Missoula, Great Falls.
It all comes here and then it goes north. But there is very little consequence for dealers in this area
because of jurisdiction.”
So if it is so easy for
these drugs like meth to come into Browning what is being done?
The Road to Recovery
– an article on the Blackfeet Chemical Dependency Center
Blackfeet Nation
Laws – specific code dealing with drug abuse on the Blackfeet Reservation
Uniting
in the Struggle Against Speed - Blackfeet Reservation prevention efforts