The Native American Struggle with Drugs

Written by: Schuyler Chadsey

            One extremely serious issue facing indigenous people of America as well as others across the world is substance abuse. European colonization and introduction to various drugs such as alcohol began the long difficult history of substance abuse. As the Sunrise House article entitled “Addiction Among Native Americans” points out,” factors such as social isolation, poverty, and lack of healthcare services that plague the country’s reservations have contributed to higher than average levels of alcoholism, drug abuse, and alcohol related crime”. In my mind it is entirely reasonable for such a marginalized and exploited people to turn to drugs for comfort.

            According to the American Addiction Centers website, substance dependence or abuse is higher among Native Americans than any other population group in the country. A large contributing factor to this is likely anomie or loss of healthy ethnic or cultural identity. Routinely Native Americans have been forced by white colonists to assimilate and give up their traditional cultural and spiritual beliefs. Many times, Native Americans have even had to hide their ethnic identities in hopes of flying under the radar and living their lives in peace. As an article entitled “Culture and Substance Abuse: Impact of Culture Affects Approach to Treatment” states, many Native American elders believe that much of the substance abuse problems in their communities are related to this loss of culture and tradition. Additionally, the same article discusses the fact that “higher rates of substance use have been found in persons who closely identify with non-Native American values and the lowest rates are found in bi-cultural individuals who are comfortable with both sets of cultural values”. It is important that we view the substance abuse issues that many Native American communities face through a culturally relative lens. Yes, the issues they face relating to drugs are similar to that of the typical American, but we still need to take in to account how different their experience has been historically and still is. A solution that may help the problem for a typical American may not have the same effect for someone living on a reservation. It is time the American government take responsibility for contributing to the woes of the indigenous people of North America, listen to what they need, and provide our full support in whatever action they believe will positively contribute to remedying the unique social issues they face. It is extremely important that we facilitate their community needs in the way they see fit as I am sure many Native American people still are wary of any American government involvement in their lives (understandably).

           Unfortunately, like much of the world, drug related issues in Native American communities are difficult to tackle when there are not proper social or medical services to provide for the people. Many times, the chosen course of action to combat the problem is criminalization. Many Native American communities within the Unites States and Canada either by federal or tribal mandate have outlawed drugs and alcohol completely. The result of this is the increase in black market trade which further exploits people for their money and provides the users with lower quality and many times dangerous substances. Also, even if there are laws enacted to make drugs and alcohol illegal, many Native American communities do not have the law enforcement personnel to effectively enforce them. Due to these factors as the NPR article entitled “Many Native American Communities Struggle with Effects of Heroin Use” discusses, Mexican drug cartels purposely target these Native American communities for employment in drug trafficking and dealing.

           Drug abuse is  certainly not something that only effects Native Americans but the circumstances surrounding why some people in their communities may turn to drugs are unique to them. Hopefully as our country's attitude towards drugs change and harm reduction organizations grow our government will realize these same services need to be facilitated for Native Americans. We can never take back the atrocities American colonists perpetrated on the indigenous people of North America but we can take steps to support communities in ways that can help to elevate their situation and facilitate services that can help them to live a better quality of life.

Sources:

https://sunrisehouse.com/addiction-demographics/native-americans/

https://www.npr.org/2015/05/20/405936140/many-native-american-communities-struggle-with-effects-of-heroin-use

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/culture-and-substance-abuse-impact-culture-affects-approach-treatment

https://archives.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2014/09/substance-use-in-american-indian-youth-worse-than-we-thought

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics/native-americans