Pubdate: Sun, 15 Jan 2006
Source: Bismarck Tribune (ND)
Copyright: 2006 The Bismarck Tribune
Contact:  http://www.bismarcktribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/47
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

TRIBE LAUNCHES METH CAMPAIGN

ROCKY BOY, Mont.  - Plagued by methamphetamine addiction, the 
Chippewa-Cree Indian Tribe has launched a campaign to curb the drug's 
spread across the tribe's Montana reservation and treat those who 
become hooked.

The tribe's business committee has created a 12-member tribal meth 
advisory committee. The panel will use a combination of prevention, 
intervention, treatment and increased law enforcement to curb meth's 
spread and work to forge alliances with other area tribes and 
existing anti-meth groups.

The key, said tribal council chairman and state lawmaker Jonathan 
Windy Boy, is to create an environment where everyone is working 
together against methamphetamine.

"We've been touched by this for a long time, and I think that fresh 
ideas and a new approach need to be done," he told the Great Falls 
Tribune in a story Thursday. "This is not going to go away."

Meth is a growing problem on the reservation, said Brenda Guardipee, 
director of the tribe's social services program.

Client numbers at the reservation's outpatient drug treatment center 
are on the rise, and the number of meth-related child welfare cases 
also is growing.

In addition, more tribal welfare recipients are failing mandatory 
drug testing. And children as young as 12 have tested positive for 
the drug in the juvenile justice program.

"If it's accessible (to) a 12-year-old, it's easily accessible for 
anyone else," Guardipee said.

The tribe's meth plan includes a lengthy list of goals. The get-tough 
strategies include an ordinance that would allow tribal housing 
officials to evict tenants who sell or distribute drugs, development 
of a drug court, creation of a meth lab cleanup program and programs 
to help communities police themselves.

Such measures are needed to prevent meth addiction becoming an 
accepted part of the reservation landscape, Guardipee said.

"We can't look at it like that," she said.

The tribe plans to pay for the project with tribal funds and grants.

The next step is a Jan. 31 meeting with officials from a local meth 
task force, and later with the Fort Belknap Reservation tribal council.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman