Parents, Tribes Not Enthused About Legal Marijuana

Marijuana is legal for recreational use in two states and for medical use in 19 states plus Washington DC (as of this writing).  Investors are excited about opportunities to create a "clean American brand" for legal marijuana, and to invest in marijuana-laced edibles, a fast-growing sector. But lots of people from tribal governments to parents, are worried about the effects of legal marijuana.

Tribes can pass laws to decriminalize marijuana, but so far most tribes firmly oppose marijuana use on tribal land, even though legalization has created something of a jurisdictional nightmare for tribal police. Tribal members can use legal or medical marijuana outside tribal borders but not on tribal lands. In the absence of specific laws prohibiting use, non-Indians can use medical marijuana on tribal lands without fear of reprisal, since the Justice Department is refraining from prosecuting medical users.

However, that hasn't stopped the Salt River Maricopa-Pima Indian Community from seizing vehicles driven by state-licensed medical marijuana patients. The tribe released a statement saying,"People who transport drugs in any jurisdiction face the possibility that they will be arrested, prosecuted, and that the vehicles they use to transport drugs may be seized." The Northern Cheyenne Tribe refused an exemption for a medical marijuana user awaiting trial. Some tribes are even going head to head with states over local prohibitions against marijuana dispensaries. Other tribes, like the Navajo Nation (which lies in two medical marijuana states), are still debating decriminalization. The tax advantage of selling legal marijuana would benefit Washington tribes in the same way that tobacco sales do, which might be more appealing if tribes weren't so thoroughly tired of cartels running grow operations on tribal lands.

Tribal officials aren't the only one who want to put the brakes on legalization. A survey of parents in Washington and Colorado show that although a majority of parents support legalization, they want to ensure that legal marijuana stays out of the hands of children, and is not advertised or used in places where children can see it. Poison control experts who sounded an alarm about the dangers of children ingesting medical marijuana have advocated in favor of childproof containers, and education programs that advise parents to treat medical marijuana the way they would any prescription drug-- secured and away from kids.

For more about issues with prescription drugs and drug endangered children in Indian Country, join us at our upcoming two-day training in Spokane, WA!

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.

Upcoming Training Opportunity: Drugs of Abuse

Learn to recognize the signs of methamphetamine use, prescription drug and over the counter drug abuse, synthetic drug use or heroin use in tribal housing. In addition to identification, participants will learn effective abatement strategies.

Click on the link to learn more about our upcoming training in Scottsdale, AZ. This two day, interactive program is free for Indian Tribe or Tribal Housing Authority employees. Any other participants can register for $50. Click here to register online.

Take Action to Help Native Women

October is the month to take action to support justice for Native women throughout the United States. You can sign a petition encouraging Congress to take immediate action to pass the reauthorization of VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act.

September Newsletter: End the Cycle of Violence * Free Resources * Disaster Response * Support Native Business

Click here for the Lamar Associates-Indian Country Training September Newsletter. In this issue, you will find information on ending the cycle on domestic violence, news about upcoming training opportunities, CDC alerts, improving disaster response for tribes, free online training, and our featured Native business of the month.

Preparation Is Key When Disaster Strikes

Recent wildfires throughout Indian Country recently reminded us that by the time you start smelling smoke, it's too late to make your plan, get a kit together of things you may need for a few days, and make a safe escape. Check out this recent article in Indian Country Today for some tips on what you can do to prepare for this season's hazards.

Traditional Native Values: Saying No To Drugs

Social scientists from Arizona State University are making waves with their research on how spirituality and religion are leading factors in preventing urban Native youth from using drugs. As Indian Country Today reports, middle school children who have strong Christian or traditional Native traditions in their homes are more likely to reject offers to try a drug.

At Lamar Associates, we have appreciated for years how important it is to weave Native traditions and spirituality into all the work we do. Because Indian Country is who we are and what we do, our tailored training programs always honor this perspective. Our religions and spirituality and our sense of family and community are not only intertwined, but they are critical keys to healing our people, whether they are living on the reservation or in a city.

Dangers of Rural Law Enforcement

Walter Lamar  honoring fallen officers
BIA Officer Memorial in Artesia, NM. 2012 

Every officer working on a reservation or in a rural area understands how dangerous the work can be. Understaffing leads to long shifts and poor backup; long distances and bad roads contribute to a disproportionate number of vehicular accidents. Recognizing a need to improve officer safety and survival, Lamar Associates/ Indian Country Training is partnering with Narrowgate Security Agency (NGSA) to provide a dynamic, three-day training course that includes two days of live fire exercises.

Did you know:
An officer is killed in Indian Country on an average of every 20 months.
Indian Country officers are more than 36 times more likely to be assaulted in the line of duty than Department of Homeland Security officers.
Indian Country officers are assaulted at twice the national rate.
60% of Federal officer assaults occur in western states.
43% of officer deaths are the result of gunfire and 35% are result from vehicular accidents (including vehicle assault and accidents during pursuit).
BIA police are victims of almost one-third of assault cases against Federal officers.
Nearly 93% of Indian Country officers know their assailant.

The Growing Problem of Cyber Bullying

Thanks to Allison Morris of Online College for developing this graphic on cyber-bullying. As access to technology increases, so do opportunities for abuse. Parents, teachers and other adults need to be aware of this trend and to check in with kids to find out whether they are getting bullied online. Click on the graphic below to view it in a new window.

Source: OnlineCollege.org

Oglala Lakota Business Students Fight Youth Suicide

This Friday, if you're near Kyle, SD, visit the gym at the Piya Wiconi Oglala Lakota College campus from 4 pm - 7 pm. Students in the Introduction to Business class at the college are exhibiting pictures taken by elementary school and middle school students about "what hope looks like." The students distributed over 200 disposable cameras as part of this effort to combat the local epidemic of youth suicide, which is among the highest worldwide.

Assemble a Kit, Make a Plan, Stay Informed

The new series of PSAs from Ready.gov remind us that it doesn't take much to prepare for an emergency, so when disaster strikes, you can just react to keep yourself and your family safe rather than having to think about how to respond.

We Agree that Education is Key

We couldn't help but notice this rebuttal to the New York Times' piece on the Wind River Reservation. Eastern Shoshone member Larry McAdams discusses some of the real problems with crime on the Wind River Reservation and says,

I am not denying the fact that we have drug addiction, violence and alcoholism on this Reservation. What can be done to counteract these problems? I believe that education is the key to begin solving our problems, and that our leaders must set high standards by example. Our Tribal people, both the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, have to do more to promote education. In this endeavor, we need strong leadership from our elected officials. Our Tribal leaders were elected to lead; we expect them to do what they were elected to do. Lead a “surge” to educate our people!

We couldn't have said it better ourselves!