Prevention & Treatment of Substance Abuse in Native American Communities
Native Americans living in and out of reservations face serious problems that needs to be resolved. Substance abuse is a major cause of many social problems among them including death and disability among the people both on and off reservation lands. The substance abuse has a disproportionate impact on native people in all states due to the rural and remote character of American Indian lands, the lack of infrastructure on reservations to deliver treatment and prevention services and significant social and cultural differences in urban areas where many native people move for education and work opportunities. In addition, Native American communities are challenged by inadequate workforce, lack of specialized programs, and language and distance barriers that face most rural areas. o Alcohol remains the single most serious substance abuse problem facing Native American communities today. The pattern of progressively more and more severe drinking continues. o Methamphetamine is a growing threat on reservation land. Easily manufactured using common household products and over-the-counter medications. It is slowly replacing alcohol with every new generation. Some of the reasons, that allow such wide spread of substance among reservations, are, but not limited to: o Tribes did not adopt versions of the federal Controlled Substance Act, which addresses “designer” and lab-made drugs, so that "crystal meth" may in fact not be illegal on some Indian reservations. o Tribes may not have jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes on, as well as off reservation perimeter. o Tribal justice systems often lack resources to address these cases effectively. For example, few tribes can afford detention centers to incarcerate offenders. The solution to these problems include Collaboration with Native American Communities to establish effective treatments and prevention of substance abuse among the people. These acts should include, but not limited to: o Establish aggressive engagement strategies against substance abuse on and off reservation lands o Focus on infusing effective, culturally appropriate treatments and prevention strategies for substance abuse. o Provide intensive training to hospital staff, tribal law enforcement, social services and tribal substance abuse professionals on crisis intervention, treatment and recovery of abusers. o Incorporate Traditional Healing Practices and use Local Resources to maximize effectiveness of prevention. o Strong tribal leadership dedicated to improving conditions on the reservations We must act now in order to prevent any further complications of this problem before it is too late to reverse the damage. We need to alarm our society and approach this matter with firm actions and social awareness in order to have effective treatment. As a whole we need to lend a hand to our Native people and offer our support. One of the big things that needs to be recognized is the isolating the problem only to American Indians to handle. We need to address it as group community, as we are all affected by it. We need to bring attention to everybody and admit it openly, we can deal with this problem more effectively and accordingly than our efforts in the past. References Gerard, Susan: Director Arizona Department of Health Services (June 16, 2005), Prevention & Treatment of Substance Abuse in Native American Communities
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ReplyDeleteHere is my proposal letter:
ReplyDeletePrevention & Treatment of Substance Abuse in Native American Communities
Native Americans living in and out of reservations face serious problems that needs to be resolved. Substance abuse is a major cause of many social problems among them including death and disability among the people both on and off reservation lands. The substance abuse has a disproportionate impact on native people in all states due to the rural and remote character of American Indian lands, the lack of infrastructure on reservations to deliver treatment and prevention services and significant social and cultural differences in urban areas where many native people move for education and work opportunities. In addition, Native American communities are challenged by inadequate workforce, lack of specialized programs, and language and distance barriers that face most rural areas.
o Alcohol remains the single most serious substance abuse problem facing Native American communities today. The pattern of progressively more and more severe drinking continues.
o Methamphetamine is a growing threat on reservation land. Easily manufactured using common household products and over-the-counter medications. It is slowly replacing alcohol with every new generation.
Some of the reasons, that allow such wide spread of substance among reservations, are, but not limited to:
o Tribes did not adopt versions of the federal Controlled Substance Act, which addresses “designer” and lab-made drugs, so that "crystal meth" may in fact not be illegal on some Indian reservations.
o Tribes may not have jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indians who commit crimes on, as well as off reservation perimeter.
o Tribal justice systems often lack resources to address these cases effectively. For example, few tribes can afford detention centers to incarcerate offenders.
The solution to these problems include Collaboration with Native American Communities to establish effective treatments and prevention of substance abuse among the people. These acts should include, but not limited to:
o Establish aggressive engagement strategies against substance abuse on and off reservation lands
o Focus on infusing effective, culturally appropriate treatments and prevention strategies for substance abuse.
o Provide intensive training to hospital staff, tribal law enforcement, social services and tribal substance abuse professionals on crisis intervention, treatment and recovery of abusers.
o Incorporate Traditional Healing Practices and use Local Resources to maximize effectiveness of prevention.
o Strong tribal leadership dedicated to improving conditions on the reservations
We must act now in order to prevent any further complications of this problem before it is too late to reverse the damage. We need to alarm our society and approach this matter with firm actions and social awareness in order to have effective treatment. As a whole we need to lend a hand to our Native people and offer our support. One of the big things that needs to be recognized is the isolating the problem only to American Indians to handle. We need to address it as group community, as we are all affected by it. We need to bring attention to everybody and admit it openly, we can deal with this problem more effectively and accordingly than our efforts in the past.
References
Gerard, Susan: Director Arizona Department of Health Services (June 16, 2005), Prevention & Treatment of Substance Abuse in Native American Communities
Here is another paper on that subject:
ReplyDeletehttp://zmeikov.no-ip.org/ENGL%202010%20-%20Intermediate%20Writing%20(EN)/Alcoholism%20in%20Native%20Americans.doc