News - Reservations/Jean

Meth Wreaks Havoc on Reservations
from the Casper Star Tribune
By BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune correspondent

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Meth Wreaks Havoc on Reservations
(News article from Casper, Wyoming)

LANDER -- Parents and community leaders on the Wind River Indian Reservation need to learn when to say "no" and when to say "yes" if they hope to deal with a burgeoning methamphetamine problem, an expert says. Parents need to say "no" to domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse, said Jean Nahomni Mani, and "yes" to setting boundaries for children, pride in native culture, education and responsibility.

Mani -- a Meth recovery counselor, member of the Hunkpati Sioux, resident of the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation in South Dakota and coordinator for the Crow Creek Coalition -- spoke here Wednesday at the Wind River Native American Conference.
Mani and her extended family have had their own battles with alcoholism and drug abuse, but Meth addiction is increasingly in a class by itself.

Robert Murray, assistant U.S. Attorney for Wyoming and an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, said his father, grandfather and great-grandfather all struggled with alcohol, "but they all survived. I don't know if this generation will survive Meth."

Mani painted grim pictures of Meth addiction, how it unbalances brain chemistry, ultimately negating the ability to feel pain or pleasure. Meth can be found in any corner of society, she said, including rodeo, where Meth is used by some cowboys who drive long distances between rodeos and have to be equally alert whether they're driving at 3 a.m. or are climbing aboard a bucking bronc. "People started finding piles of Coke cans behind rodeo chutes," Mani said. Contestants weren't drinking Coke, but putting Meth inside empty cans, heating the bottoms and inhaling the fumes to get a burst of energy, she said.

"Lots of women try Meth in order to lose weight," Mani said. But considering that Meth addicts pick their skin raw, lose their t

eeth and compulsively pluck out their hair, Meth isn't the way to go if you're concerned about how you look.

Why do people use Meth? The answers, Mani said, fall into such categories as escape from one's problems, the desire to feel good, peer pressure, a way to cope with working longer hours and the progression of addiction. "I've known people who were drinking heavily, and they swore they'd never do Meth," Mani said. If nothing was done to deal with their addictive behaviors, they'd wind up doing Meth, she said. "A lot of it comes down to self-medication" for people who've been traumatized by physical, emotional and especially sexual abuse, she said.

What's especially tragic, Mani said, are the children of Meth addicts, who rapidly stop caring about anything beyond their next fix. Meth labs in homes can be so toxic that children absorb Meth and other chemicals through the air they breathe or through their skin, not to mention the risk of fire and explosion. "You think you're going to be concerned about feeding your kid when you're on a Meth high?" Mani asked. South Dakota police found 11 children in one Meth house, she said, one a year old and weighing only 12.6 pounds.

Way too many children grow up and find gateways to Meth addiction via smoking and alcohol, Mani said, and way too many parents can rationalize that children's behavior isn't that bad. "If your kid isn't home in the middle of the night, go out and look for him and bring him back," said Mani, who acknowledged that she used to sneak out at night herself. And if your child is already in jail, leave him there -- it is safer than home and is a consequence for unacceptable behavior, she said.

Mani told her audience of counselors and social service workers that Meth is so damaging to cognitive thought, it is pointless to counsel a "high" client. Better to wait until the addict comes down and expresses the desire to get help and treatment.

She gave safety tips for those who do have occasion to speak to Meth addicts when they're high. Keep your distance and don't have bright lights, she said. Speak and move slowly and keep hands to your side, she added. Meth addicts can be wildly paranoid, so try to keep the addict talking, because a quiet addict can erupt into paranoid violence.

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