The significant alcohol and other substance abuse going on among members of the Native Americans has been a controversial topic for many decades.
A very difficult and emotionally charged topic. A culmination of many issues like nostalgia, noble savage, preservation of natives as subjects of curiosity and admiration and much more. A social experiment that has been going on since the Founding Fathers and Mothers!
There are tensions like living separate and apart from the rest of the American society. Integration versus segregation and much more. Culture and heritage versus modern society etc. Every group may find their own ways to compromise.
There are no easy ways to deal with this sad situation!
"New Hope for Healing in Cherokee Nation
Over the last 20 years, Native Americans have been disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic, with deaths among middle-age Native Americans rising at 3X the rate experienced by white Americans between 1999 and 2013.
The Cherokee Nation has faced particular devastation: Many Cherokee parents struggling with addiction have lost custody of their children, some of whom are now being fostered and adopted outside their tribe.
Settlements with pharmaceutical companies mean that the Cherokee tribe has $100 million that it plans to put toward addiction care within the Nation, including:
An inpatient recovery center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, capital of the Cherokee Nation.
A harm-reduction clinic that provides counseling, clean needles, and support.
Equipping the tribal hospital with the medication buprenorphine to help prevent relapses." (Source)
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