TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Ask Raven
Raven will answer your questions
about problems associated with alco
hol, tobacco, and other drugs. You can
call in your questions to the numbers
below or mail them to:
Raven
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
Dear Raven: I was wondering
how much drugs or alcohol it would
take for an average adult to overdose.
By Anonymous
Dear Anonymous: Entire books
have been written about this question
because there are many factors that
contribute to an overdose.
Some people have a reaction like
an allergy to alcohol or other drugs.
Some people are more “drug sensitive.”
Body weight and fat can be a factor,
especially with alcohol.
Alcohol/other drugs mixed with
prescription or over-the-counter drugs
are an important concern. And other
health conditions such as diabetes, heart
problems and hepatitis will be severely
affected by even small amounts of
alcohol/other drugs.
The information Em going to give
you today will be general and cannot
apply to everyone in every situation.
It can give you an idea about how much
is dangerous for most people.
Alcohol: If large amounts of alco
hol are consumed in a short period of
time, alcohol poisoning can occur. A
blood alcohol level of .40 or more usu
ally is considered the level for alcohol
poisoning, but many other serious physi
cal problems can cause life-threatening
problems with much lower doses.
Cocaine and amphetamines:
Overdoses can be caused by as little
as 1/50 of a gram or as much as 1.2
grams. There really is no safe amount.
Death can occur within 40 minutes to
five hours after exposure.
Opiates/o pi oids/se dative
hypnotics: Examples of these are
heroin, narcotic pain medications like
OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone.
There are so many different types of
drugs in this category it’s difficult to
be specific about each drug. The best
thing to keep in mind is that they should
be used only when prescribed by a
doctor. Unless the patient has a severe
and debilitating condition, they should
only be used for short periods because
they are highly addictive drugs.
Marijuana: Marijuana overdose
does not have the same dangers as
other drugs, however, heavy long-term
use can cause serious health problems
and when the person stops using mari
juana. he or she will experience with
drawal symptoms.
If there was a drug you wanted to
know about that I didn't mention,
please let me know. If you are asking
because you currently use any of the
above drugs, please be careful. They
are all addictive and all can cause prob
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Siletz News
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lems, including health, legal, financial,
family, school and work, and conflicts
in relationships.
Please talk with a health care pro
fessional if you need more information.
Raven
Dear Raven: How do I talk to my
kids about prevention? What is pre
vention? What can 1 do to best support
prevention activities in my commu
nity? A Mom
Dear Mom: First, I’m sorry it has
taken a long time for me to answer your
question. Sometimes those question
boxes don’t get checked! I will ask my
helpers to check more often!
Talking with your children about
prevention is very important. As a par
ent, you know your family risk factors.
If you have diabetes or other health
problems in your family, if there are
family members who have had prob
lems with addictions, if there are people
in your family who have had legal
trouble resulting in incarceration, or it
there has been violence in the family,
especially that the children are aware
of, those are factors that place your
children at risk for eventually experi
encing those same kinds of problems.
When they are old enough to un
derstand, it’s important to start to edu
cate them that there are things they
need to be careful about. If you are
unsure, you might want to talk with a
counselor to assess your family risk
factors and develop some tools for you
to start to talk with your children at the
right time and in the right way. There
also is written information that can
help you and if you call Delina, the
prevention coordinator, and let her
know, she will provide you with it.
Prevention is' really a plan of ac
tivities, parenting techniques and com
munity support that will help your child
reduce those risk factors and increase
those things that will help protect your
child from those areas of risk. Delina
can help you develop an individual
plan that will be a guide for you if you
would like that support.
Please let Delina know if you
would like to be informed of preven
tion activities for your child or for you
as a parent. You can best support those
activities being available by being in
touch with Delina. knowing when they
happen and when there is activity that
would be good for your child, encour
aging him or her to participate. You can
sign up to help chaperone and partici
pate in other ways.
Thank you for writing. Raven
September 2007
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i
Prevention
September is J
Wellbriety Month! |
I
I
I
This year’s Wellbriety dinner
again will be provided at Run
to the Rogue registration.
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Sept. 12
| Siletz Tribal Community Center |
Run to the Rogue
|
Orientation - 5:30 p.m.
|
Wellbriety Dinner - 6 p.m.
|
Recognition Ceremony -
|
6:30 p.m.
|
Generational Trauma
|
Presentation - 6:45 p.m.
Closing - 8 p.m.
t____________________________ '
Siletz Tribal A&D
Programs
Prevention, Outpatient
Treatment, and
Women’s Transitional
Siletz: 1-800-600-5599 or
541-444-8286
Eugene: 541-484-4234
Salem: 503-390-9494
Portland: 503-238-1512
Tribal Children
Need You
Do you value
Siletz Native
culture
and
want to help
preserve it?
If so, please
consider fostering
for the tribe. The
Siletz Tribe needs loving, stable,
nurturing homes in all areas.
If you are interested, please
contact:
Shawna Nagunst
Foster Care Certifier
I-800-922-1399, ext. 1275,
or 541-444-8275
or visit www.ctsi.nsn.us/icw.html
by Delina John
What is prevention:
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Culture
Elders
School
Parents
Families: aunties, uncles, grand
mas, grandpas
Volunteers/mentors
Ministers/pastors
ATOD support staff
Anything that builds on positive/
healthy behaviors in youth
Prevention is striving to create posi
tive interactions with youth, adults and
families that support increasing protec
tive factors and decreasing risk factors.
Risk factors are characteristics of
individuals, their families, schools and
community environments that are as
sociated with increases in alcohol and
other drug use, delinquency, teen preg
nancy, school dropout and violence.
Protective factors are those asso
ciated with reduced potential for drug
use. They encompass family, social,
psychological and behavioral charac
teristics that can provide a buffer for
young people. With opportunities,
skills, recognition, bonding, healthy
beliefs and clear standards, you get
healthy behaviors.
Prevention according to the risk
factors/protective factors theory is
based on a simple premise:
To prevent a problem, we need to
identify the factors that increase the risk
that the problem will develop and then
find ways to reduce the risk. At the
same time, we must identify those pro
tective factors that buffer individuals
from the risk factors in their environ
ments and then find ways to increase
the protection.
It’s important to know this to cre
ate healthy lifestyles for our youth. I’m
available to help anyone who wants to
learn more about the risk/protective
theory. It takes a whole community of
healthy people to raise our children
today and this is a start.
I can be reached at 541-444-8286
or 1-800-600-5599, ext. 1286. Just ask
for Delina.