Julie Richards, the founder of Mothers Against METH Alliance, found these items at a suspected methamphetamine lab in a home on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Photo courtesy Julie Richards

Addiction Is Not A Sin
A note from the editor's desk
By Brandon Ecoffey
www.lakotacountrytimes.com

As someone who has struggled with addiction I have empathy for the those who are currently dependent on substances; as well as the families who are suffering alongside them.

It is the duty of lawmakers and public officials to figure out a strategy on how to combat addiction rates by creating policies and laws that work towards this goal. On the reservation limited resources and understaffed facilities have been stretched to the capacity by a full blown meth epidemic that is impacting communities like nothing we have seen before.

I've spent my fair share of time running the streets and to be completely honest, I have never seen a drug make people so insatiably thirsty for its high.

Alcohol and Drugs have been part of the Pine Ridge Reservation for decades but the actions that our people are committing while on the drug are far more brazen and violent than what they used to be before the arrival of meth.

Somewhere along the line I was told that nation-building begins at the community level. I've come to realize that the motivation to defend our communities and tribal-nations also originates in our communities. In Pine Ridge the Mothers Against Meth Alliance is encouraging the community to spread awareness about the dangers of a drug that has dug its claws in to the souls of so many Oglala. They deserve the support of tribal government but our people also deserve the support of the United States Government as promised in treaties and guaranteed through the trust-agreement.

It would be encouraging to see both the OST and federal authorities answer this call to action to fight meth addiction and the horrendous crimes that are being committed in pursuit of its high by implementing changes in our legal code.

The response cannot however mimic the failed policies employed by the United States Government in its efforts to fight the War on Drugs. Incarceration is not the answer nor is banishment. Addiction is not a sin. It is a diagnosable disease that can and must be treated. At this moment however the resources needed to heal our people are unavailable.

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The government to government relationship that exists between the tribal-nations and the federal government can allow for the inception of bold and progressive policy implementations that approaches drug use from a public health perspective. If successful, these new policies can be used across Indian Country.

To rid our community of addiction would take nothing short of a direct intervention by President Barack Obama. And that is what should happen. Over the course of his time in office President Obama has brought forth sweeping criminal justice reforms; but, to fix our community, we need both financial and technical support from Washington.

This would also be the perfect opportunity to approach the problem of addiction in a way that is not fueled by the incarceration of our people. For as much as people want to punish drug dealers, the key to solving this problem is fixing the root causes of addiction. Policies rooted in incarceration have resoundingly failed and the time has come to change the way we all address addiction.

(Brandon Ecoffey is the current editor of LCT who was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.)

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Related Stories:
Brandon Ecoffey: Taking a hard look at addiction in Indian Country (03/03)
Lakota Country Times: Pine Ridge mother leads fight against meth (03/03)