GRANDMOTHER'S ARREST PROMPTS ELDERLY DINE TO SEEK METH EDUCATION

WINDOW ROCK - After the meth bust in Dilkon that involved an 81-year
old grandmother, many communities and elderly people have expressed
that they are scared of being arrested because their grandchildren
may be making meth without them knowing.

"They want presentations so they know about meth," said Lynette
Willie, Public Information Officer for the Navajo Nation Department
of Behavioral Health Services. Ironically enough, the DBHS program
just completed an educational video this past week in the Navajo
language that will do this.

The video has already been copied to DVDs and been passed out to
chapter houses, senior citizen centers, and any other entities
requesting them. The program is planning to get the DVD put on VHS
this week for people and organizations who do not have the equipment
to play DVDs.

"We ended up being asked by five senior citizen centers for the video
(this past week)," said Willie. The Department of Behavioral Health's
focus is to educate people on what meth is, how they can identify it,
and how they can help put a stop to it. While alcohol remains a
plague on the Navajo Nation, Willie believes that meth could be even
more devastating.

"This is possibly the greatest modern day enemy (to the Navajo
people)," said Willie. "This has the potential to be worse than
alcohol." While meth is a rising problem in the United States, it is
even a more prevalent problem among communities of color, including
American Indians.

According to the Assistant Surgeon General, Director of Indian Health
Service Charles W. Grimm, D.D.S., M.H.S.A., American Indians and
Alaska Natives are 720 percent more likely to die from alcohol than
the rest of the United States. And if meth has the potential to be
worse, the nation is facing a huge crisis.

Char James, DBHS Program Project Specialist specifically for meth,
realized that a lot of people didn't understand English, and
therefore could not understand the information being sent out on meth
videos and pamphlets in English. This obviously created a barrier in
education, and in light of this, DBHS put together a script, where
James educates people about meth in Navajo.

"We can't just distribute printed material," said Willie. In 2004, a
video titled, "'G'-Methamphetamine on the Navajo Nation," won the
Best Public Service Award at the 20th Annual American Indian Film
Festival in 2004. The video was produced and sponsored by Tuba City
Regional, Health Care Corporation, and Health Promotion Program. Now
there is a video available to those who speak Navajo.

The video, which is over an hour long, goes into detail showing
people the different types of paraphernalia that is used to take
meth, such as light bulbs and pipes. In the video, James teaches
people what symptoms and signs that meth causes and what type of
objects that are suspicious. The video emphasizes how some bags
containing meth may look harmless and even sometimes have Walt Disney
characters or cartoons on them, but contain the drug. It also
educates people about slang words used for meth.

"If their grandchild is talking about ice in the middle of the
summer, then they are not talking about winter," said Willie.

Joining forces to combat meth James has been doing presentations all
over the reservation since August 2004, and Willie estimates that
over 80,000 people on the Navajo Nation have been educated so far.

"We'll hit even more people (with the video)," said Willie. With
Internet access available now through OnSat in every chapter house
across the reservation, Willie said communities can also download
videos and Powerpoint presentations on meth.

Because of the large size of the Navajo Nation, DBHS has joined
forces with entities, such as the Navajo Housing Authority, the
Navajo Nation police, chapter house communities, schools, and senior
citizen centers. With only 188 DBHS employees and over 180,000 people
on the Navajo Nation, the program needs all the help it can get.

Some communities have taken upon it themselves to form a task force
to help combat meth. According to Willie, there are currently five
task force units across the Navajo Nation, including Tuba City, Fort
Defiance, Dilkon, Shiprock, and Chinle. There were 15 total task
forces across the nation two years ago, but the numbers have trickled
down since. DBHS has plans to revamp some of the task forces that
have become dormant, such as the Gallup task force.

In January 2004, meth became especially prevalent in the Tuba City
area. A surgeon at Tuba City Hospital was seeing numerous patients
with unusual heart complications. When the surgeon realized that the
cause was meth, he immediately contacted DBHS to begin steps towards
addressing the issue. Because of these heart complications, Willie
said that 17 people in the Tuba City area alone died from the substance.

Around this same time, Marcus Tully of the Navajo Housing Authority
also started noticing more social problems with the tenants, such as
violent behavior. However, at that time, nothing could be done to
address meth head-on because it was not against the law to use or
sell the substance. This is when the entities began to examine the
issue closely, search for solutions and push the law to legislation.

"There's a lot of use in more remote areas," said Willie. Willie said
that many Navajo people initially thought that the problem was in
Window Rock because it is closer to border towns where people had
more access to the drug. But after visiting chapter houses across the
reservation, people began to speak up and realize the problem did
exist in their community. Willie said because people are using meth
within their homes, they are harder to bust.

As far as officials can tell, meth is not being made on the
reservation, but is being brought in from cities like Phoenix and
Albuquerque. People buy an "eight ball" from the city and sell it for
three times the amount on the reservation, said Willie. So far,
Willie said that there have been no super labs, or labs of any sort,
discovered on the Navajo Nation. However, she said that people might
be taking homemade labs apart quickly when police officials are in
their residential area.

For a long period of time, 13 years old was the youngest age on
record and 50 years old was the oldest for meth usage. Now, the
youngest case of documented meth usage is 8 years old and the oldest
is 81 years old. Meth is also being used as a date rape drug, where
the substance is being put into drinks.

"A lot of girls say they get it for free," said Willie. The substance
is also being injected by needle, which could potentially increase
the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

Education for everyone Along with educating communities, DBHS is also
educating some business entities, like hotels and motel, about meth
paraphernalia. The Days Inn hotel staff at St. Micheals was educated
on paraphernalia that is used to take meth, and the next day an
employee recognized the items, and reported it to the police, who
arrested the individual.

"It's important for everyone to get educated," said Willie. Before
meth became illegal on the reservation, police officials did not know
that the chalky, white substance in pipes was meth.

"There is a lack of trained personnel" said Willie. As part of the
program, testimonies and interviews with current meth users, previous
meth users, and family members of meth users has been aired on KTNN
and other radio stations. There have also been a series of one-hour
segment shows where people talk about their negative experience with meth.

In an interview, a woman states her shock when she realizes that a
judge in court did not recognize the sign and symptoms of meth that
her husband was showing during a trial hearing. This was before meth
was against the law, but now people are becoming more aware.

"People get empowered by the education," said Willie. Since people
have become more educated on the issue, Willie said there have been
more Navajo families who have reported meth use in their community.

The DBHS plans to help implement legislative changes that would
ultimately help educate youth. The program wants school age children
in kindergarten to learn about meth and how to say no to drugs in
general, especially since meth usage is occurring in schools. Willie
said one of the pueblo tribes passed a law that makes meth education
in grade schools necessary.

"This is really, really dangerous stuff," said Willie. If the highly
addictive drug is used on a regular basis, it can cause the body's
natural pleasure hormones to be shut down completely, making it
impossible for the body to create natural pleasure hormones at all.
Because of this, many users become clinically depressed and can only
feel pleasure by taking the drug. To make matters worse, many users
are using meth with other drugs.

"A lot of is combined," said Willie. Willie said that people who use
meth, also use other substances like alcohol and marijuana.

"We have people coming in saying they have a meth problem and say
that 'I need help'," said Willie. Because there are no treatment
centers on the reservation, people must go off Navajo to get
treatment. However, because there are not culturally sensitive
treatment centers in the city, people are not getting effective
services. For example, Willie said that some people seeking treatment
speak only Navajo and cannot communicate with an English speaking counselor.

Because the law for meth was not passed until 2005, there is not
adequate figures available to work with, making it more difficult for
DBHS to identify and tackle specific problems.

"There's not a lot of statistical information," said Willie. "We're
getting to that point."

Once more accurate statistics are available, DBHS can connect with
other entities to find ways to attack meth head-on. Indian Health
Services has some statistics on meth use, but Willie said they are
not accurate and are more likely higher than noted. She said when
people go into treatment, they are asked if they have used meth.
Because many people are not familiar with the term "meth" and are
more familiar with slang terms like "G" and "ice", they say that they
have not taken the drug.

Willie believes that the economy is part of the problem, and such
things as rising gas prices and raises by utilities is not helping.

"It's cheap to make and even cheaper to buy," said Willie.

Harvard recognizes accomplishments by DBHS Despite the challenges and
the tragedies that have occurred as a result of meth usage, the DBHS
has taken big steps to address meth on the Navajo Nation. The Harvard
Project on American Indian Economic Development recognized the
accomplishment made by DBHS to step up to meth. Under the Harvard
project, DBHS is up for the "Honoring Nations" award. It is an
national award program that identifies and celebrates and shares
outstanding examples of tribal governance. Nominees are programs with
initiatives that are especially effective in addressing critical
concerns and challenges facing more than 560 Indian nations and their
citizens. Honorees serve as sources of knowledge and inspiration
throughout Indian Country and beyond.

Just this week, DBHS received notification that it is a semi-finalist
for the award, and if selected, will get $10,000 to continue its
efforts to fight meth. Willie said they have no idea who nominated
them, but that they feel honored just to be nominated in the first place.

Navajo culture and traditional beliefs continue to be the foundation
that DBHS uses to educate people on substance abuse. For meth
education, the program emphasizes to the Navajo people that cooking
is used in traditional ceremonies, like the puberty ceremony,
Kinaldaa, and should not be used for meth.

"Cooking is sacred," said Willie. "These things are opposite of our
Navajo way of life."

Willie said that because Navajo people traditionally lived in hogans,
they had to resolve disagreements and issues immediately since people
couldn't go to a room to be alone. If someone was sad or upset, the
whole family knew. Willie said this is why the concept of living is
harmony was so stressed, because that's how the Navajo people use to live.

"We were once great problem solvers," she said.