Drug Endangered Children Face Immediate and Long Term Harm

In 2004, when Governor Dave Freudenthal signed the order creating the Wyoming Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, the order pointed to both the immediate effects and the long-term harm done to children by exposure to toxic drugs, particularly methamphetamine. Besides "profound abuse and neglect, [and] exposure to toxic chemicals and other hazards," children "can be faced with life-long mental and physical health problems" and require "a continuum of care."

 Trainers from the National Alliance DEC have been in Riverton this week to work with local law enforcement who are gradually implementing a collaborative approach to recognize, report and remediate situations where caregivers' drug or alcohol use is threatening their children. In an interview with kcwy13, Riverton police officers also point to the spectrum of harm drug endangered children face. In the short term, they describe how young children can suffer from toxic exposure to drugs: "It can be ingested by the child by just being in the same room if that is being done in that house or residence where that child is playing. Their toys can be contaminated, their food, so it is a huge concern." As the kids get older, the officers say "We see them acting out at school, we see them hanging out on street corners, we see them abusing alcohol and drugs at earlier and earlier ages."

Riverton is stepping up its program in response to several cases of children being endangered by drugs in their environment, particularly with the increase in methamphetamine abuse. Last summer, a couple was arrested for simultaneously dealing meth and running a babysitting business out of their trailer home. Then in the fall, a 1-year old and a 9-month old were suspected of being injected with a drug, leading to their mother's arrest for meth.  Another woman, hallucinating on meth, freaked out customers at the McDonald's by barking like a dog, then sped away with a small child.

From our own tribal communities, we know how problems of substance abuse can pass from one generation to the next. But hope also passes on from one generation to the next, and so does determination to create a better community, starting today. Visit our website for upcoming training opportunities to learn what you can do in your tribal community.

Killing the Pain Is Killing People

As prescription painkillers become harder to obtain, more expensive and less likely to get you high, opiate addicts in many areas are finding that it's cheaper to satisfy their jones with cheap Mexican heroin. Even though prescription drug-related deaths are have outstripped auto accidents in some areas, heroin is even more dangerous, cut as it is with a variety of chemicals, and of unpredictable potency.

While some areas, like Idaho and Montana, are still wrestling more with methamphetamine abuse (and have passed strict laws to control over-the-counter drugs like pseudoephedrine), more urban regions (like Minnesota, New York, Washington and Florida) are definitely seeing an increase in heroin related deaths and prescription overdoses.

Native Americans experience an overdose rate triple that of the general population, but even suburban parents of promising athletes have been seeing sports injuries tragically turn to opiate addiction, then death by overdose.

We've been sounding this alarm for a while now, but 2013 is the year that we're taking action. Sign up for our tribal drugs of abuse and drug endangered children training program to talk about how this deadly trend is impacting public health, public budgets and public safety in Indian Country. At our regional sessions and our May 1 webinar on the prescription drug to heroin link, we'll provide an overview of the problem and then get to work discussing solutions that will work with the resources we have in our communities. 

New Decongestant Harder to Use For Meth

Just as pharmaceutical companies have been adjusting the formula for prescription painkillers so it's harder to get an opiate high, Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc has released a kind of pseudoephedrine that is much harder to use as ingredient in methamphetamine. Nexafed contains an inert ingredient that is activated when someone tries to extract the pseudoephedrine, and which prevents crystallization by turning into a thick gel.

We applaud any effort that keeps dangerous drugs off the street and it seems like a promising trend that drug makers are taking ownership of the ways their products can be abused. However, as we've seen with oxycodone and heroin, or even with heroin and Krokodil, drug addicts will find something that meets their need. What does this mean for meth?  We'll be watching as this evolves and let you know.