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MAPP-SD, a project of Prairie View Prevention Services, Inc., is a comprehensive Methamphetamine awareness and prevention project. 
MAPP-SD is dedicated to:
u   Increase awareness of Meth and the problems associated with its use, manufacture and distribution;
u Provide, at no cost, professional Meth awareness and prevention education to groups and organizations on a community, regional and statewide level;
u Be a no-cost, ongoing resource for South Dakota citizens to deal with issues rising from the manufacture, use and distribution of Meth.

Meth Takes a Toll
on Indian Reservations

Meth Takes a Toll on Indian Reservations
ABC News; June 12, 2006

The following is taken from the original article.

Leah Fyten believes every family on her South Dakota reservation has been affected by Methamphetamine use. The drug has torn apart these families, led to increases in crime and bumped mortality rates. And now, the director of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Housing Authority says, it's affecting the reservation's already desperate housing situation. Housing is not only ruined by Meth labs, which are highly poisonous and often difficult to spot, but also by the destructive habits that often accompany drug use. The housing authority on the Flandreau reservation has spent countless dollars fixing up holes in the walls, broken windows, ruined appliances and other damage wrought by the violent habits of drug users, Fyten said.  "We have a small budget that decreases every year and families are growing," she said. "Housing gets worse every year. And to try to repair houses that are damaged by alcohol and drug abuse puts a strain on your budget." 

Statistics on Indian Meth use are scarce, but an administration survey found in 2004 that almost 2 percent of the American Indian population was using Meth. Robert McSwain, deputy director of the Indian Health Service, told a congressional panel earlier this month that the rate of Indians using Meth appears to have dramatically increased in the past five years.   This poses a major problem for states and Indian reservations, as some states have passed laws that essentially punish property owners for Meth contamination. Some landlords - including Indian housing authorities - have been forced to pay for cleanup of Meth labs, which can cost thousands of dollars.  In addition, few states have published standards for cleanup. Congress is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to develop federal guidelines, as there is still some confusion about the effects of chemicals involved in producing the drug.

For more information visit:
National American Indian Housing Council
Indian Health Service
 


Rosebud
NCAI Leaders
Congress-Indian Meth
Indian Housing

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