Meth lays seige to Indian Country

[NVMojo]

AN CARLOS APACHE INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. — Something haunts the Dudley house atop a ruddy clay mesa in Apache country.

It is the memory of a young man, David Justin Jackson Dudley, beaten to death at a January 2005 methamphetamine and booze party on the reservation.

The entryway is a photographic shrine to the 20-year-old, who wanted to be an X-ray technician.

"We just kind of made it David's wall," explains the young man's father, Dennis Dudley. "We light candles every time we come home."

Mary Jane Dudley sits in the living room, surrounded by half-finished Apache baskets. For months after David died, she could not weave. Now, she performs the ancient craft to lose herself in memories. "From the time I wake up to the time I go to bed is when I think about him," she says. "I haven't stopped crying."

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-30-meth_x.htm

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I have to get involved in this.

Thank you for posting this NVMojo.
Wa-do


:cry:

[NVMojo]

3. It's a terrible scourge ...we've had horrible beating deaths at the

colony and in the city where I live. 3 children in the past 9 months, all meth-related ...

[bloom]

6. I guess people become quite enraged

I don't know if it's while they are drugged up or when they want to be - but that does sound horrible. I hadn't heard of it being connected to children's deaths. :(

[Mythsaje]

2. Damn...

I hate to see another one of our drugs take its toll on the native population.

[K-W]

4. Meth is exposing much of America's underbelly.

My only hope is that people see the underlying problems in these communities and dont simply blame it on the meth. Meth will be supressed or go out of style, the poverty, depression, marginalization and hopelessness will remain until the next drug epidemic or natural disaster.

[Judi Lynn]

5. I wonder who's really behind this new threat.

We learned very late in the game the CIA was actually involved in getting cocaine to Los Angeles in the 1980's, setting up massive addiction among poor people there.

From the article:

...while federal authorities say foreign drug cartels are targeting tribal lands as distribution beachheads.
(snip)

Young kids get free dope, and after a few times they'll grow into a user population. ... There's an entire generation of Native Americans vanishing."
(snip/...)

I hope the strong, older people can find a way to block this destruction of the vulnerable youth. Very, very, very sad news.