Friday, December 7, 2012

Minnesota Tribes Battling Flood of Heroin

Read the whole story at Indian Country Today Media Network. The news from the Minnesota tribes is grim, but there are solutions to be found in education and community coalitions that battle this problem, starting with preventing and treating prescription painkiller addiction.  Besides destroying the user's life and health, heroin use results in increased crime, HIV and hepatitis infections, and children living in filthy and dangerous environments. Tribes are working with county, state and federal officials to turn this around, but they also need help from all concerned community members, from caregivers to teachers and from health care workers to law enforcement officers and Tribal courts.