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- By Levi Rickert
Opinion. Each year on August 31, International Overdose Awareness Day is observed. It is a global campaign to bring an end to overdose. This year’s theme is “together we can.”
There are multiple goals of International Overdose Awareness Day, which include to provide the opportunity for people to publicly mourn lost loved ones; tell individuals who struggle with drug use and those in recovery that they are valued; inform people worldwide about the risks of drug overdose; provide information about substance abuse services available; and prevent and reduce drug-related harms by supporting evidence-based practice.
On Friday, the White House released a proclamation by President Joe Biden that declared August 25 through August 31, 2024 as "Overdose Awareness Week, 2024."
“During Overdose Awareness Week, we mourn those who have lost their lives to overdose deaths. We acknowledge the devastating toll the opioid epidemic has taken on individuals, families, and communities across America,” President Biden wrote in the proclamation.
His proclamation said "even one death is one too many, and far too many Americans continue to lose loved ones to fentanyl."
The substance use crisis in America has had a devastating impact on our tribal communities, families, and individuals. A man-made opioid, Fentanyl, in particular, is a serious and deadly problem in Indian Country that has reached epidemic proportions.
Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, drug overdose death rates for Native Americans increased by 39 percent, the second-highest rate of increase behind African Americans. This is due to several factors, including geographic isolation, lack of access to healthcare, and historical trauma.
In Indian Country, overdoses from fentanyl, opioids, and other deadly drugs such as “tranq” are leading to loss of life as well as a steep decline in the health and well-being of tribal communities. In addition, the epidemic is contributing to the spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis C.
Our people are succumbing to fentanyl overdoses at a rate surpassing any other group in the United States, reflecting a staggering 279% surge between 2016 and 2021.
One tribal leader blames the rise of drug cartels on Indian reservations as one major factor for the increase of drug overdoses in tribal communities.
On April 10, 2024, Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre (Aaniih) Nations of the Fort Belknap Indian Community President Jeff Stffarm testified in front of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the problem of drug cartels on Indian reservations.
“The drug cartels are specifically targeting Indian Country because of a dangerous combination of rural terrain, history of addiction, under-resourced law enforcement, legal loopholes, sparsely populated communities, and exorbitant profits…Profits for these cartels soar the farther they get away from the southern border. A fentanyl pill that costs less than $1.00 in Mexico and southern states, can go for over $100 on our reservation,” Sfiffarm said in his testimony.
Stiffarm told the subcommittee members that cartels target Native women and use homes on reservations as safe houses and distribution hubs.
He blames the federal government for the drug and cartel crisis.
“I put the blame on the drug and cartel crisis squarely on the shoulders of the Federal Government. The FBI doesn't do anything on the reservation unless we have a death or serious crime. If that happens then they are only here for a short period collecting evidence! They are reactive--not proactive. The FBI has jurisdiction over non-tribal members, our tribal officers’ hands are tied because they only have jurisdiction over tribal members. The government knew that cartels were moving onto the reservations but did nothing,” Stiffarm testified.
Sounds like the same old problem, where the federal government doesn’t know what to do about the perceived “Indian problem.”
Stiffarm provided the congressional subcommittee with the source of the problem: the serious underfunding of law enforcement by the federal government.
“Tribal law enforcement is seriously underfunded by the federal government and by BIA. Officers lack equipment and are untrained to handle this crisis and most importantly underfunded. In the 638-contracting process, the federal government offered $1.2 million dollars to Fort Belknap to administer our own law enforcement in 1997, and 27 years later in 2023 offers $1.3 million,” Stiffarm said.
President Biden said in his proclamation that his administration has made historic investments in the Tribal Opioid Response programs to improve prevention; expand treatment; and deliver free, life-saving medications.
In the closing months of his administration, President Biden should work closely with Congress to secure more funding for law enforcement on Indian reservations to rid the drugs onto tribal lands.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.
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