From: Dylan Williams Re: Substance Abuse in Native American Communities
Problem Statement:
What actions should Donald Trump take to combat substance abuse disorders in American Indian and Alaskan Native communities?
1.5 Background: According to the World Health Organization, substance abuse is defined as, “the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs.”1 In 2014, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that roughly 20.2 million Americans had a substance abuse disorder—over 6% of the total population.2 In a study released the previous year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the rate of American …show more content…
Trump has not been open to the Native American community as evident by the National Indian Gaming Association bringing him before the Federal Communications Commission for, “obscene, indecent and profane racial slurs against Native Americans.”12 However, Donald Trump has been outspoken in the drug crisis citing is as one of the reasons he hopes to build a Southern border, specifically to, “stop the inflow of opioids into the US.”13 Furthermore, Trump has been outspoken in his willingness to invest in treatment programs for susceptible populations including a comment made at a town hall meeting in August 2016 stating that, “[The government is] going to work with [substance users], we 're going to spend the money, we 're gonna get that habit …show more content…
Indian Health Service (IHS): The Indian Health Service is an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services that provides healthcare to Native Americans and Alaskan Natives on behalf of the government.18 Recently, to address the rates of drug use and suicide, the IHS has announced the implementation of 42 methadone treatment awards to tribal organizations totalling 7 million dollars to aid treatment programs.19 Despite these advancements, the IHS run healthcare facilities are suffering from deficiencies both from a managerial and infrastructural perspective despite providing the care to nearly 2.2 million Native