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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.
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