4
Smoke Signals
JUNE 15,2006
Tribe, Community Continue To Learn How To Cope With Meth Use
One of the problems of dealing with meth use is that recovery time for an addict is five times longer than the longest available treatment.
By Ron Karten
There is no medicine, no therapy
for children who are born addicted
to methamphetamines, said Jim
Lace, M.D., a Salem pediatrician.
At a community meeting held in
the Tribal Community Center on
Wednesday, April 26, Lace ad
dressed the tragedies that meth
abuse can bring into the home.
"We don't have any good medica
tions to help babies withdraw," he
said. "They have to go through
withdrawal by themselves."
"We still don't know what will
happen to these babies when they
grow up," he added, although "stud
ies are starting."
Lace is a member of the Meth
Task Force for the Oregon Medi
cal Association. As seriously as he
takes meth addiction, he also has
a sense of humor about his health
care efforts: he works with a physi
cians' group called, CHAOS (Child
Health Association of Salem).
While the difficulties of working
with meth-troubled individuals is
well-known, the details of the epi
demic bear repeating: that 90 percent
of kids taken out of homes are taken
out because meth use has created
unsafe situations within the home;
that 95 percent of ID theft cases are
traced back to meth users.
The more difficult issues of treat
ment and incarceration also came
up during the meeting.
Tribal Council member Kath
leen Tom asked what the Tribe is
doing to provide addicts with long
1 - " vy
mi) mi
I 0 ,- y'
Community Interest With Dr. Jim Lace at right, community members watched a
Powerpoint presentation during the meth meeting.
term treatment.
"It's a double-edged sword," said
Tribal Social Services Manager
Dave Fullerton. While medical and
social service practitioners believe
that "it takes five years to get clean,"
said Fullerton, current federal law
allows only 12 months for parents
to clean up once their children are
taken from the home for foster care.
If parents are showing progress, the.
timeline can be extended. Normally,
though, after 12 months, courts are
required to make permanent place
ments for the children.
"It's a huge problem for par
ents," said Fullerton, particularly
because "the relapse is part of the
recovery." The average addict has
six to nine relapses on the way to
recovery, he said.
The Tribe has transitional hous
ing in McMinnville and Portland,
and "ultimately, we will have one
here in Grand Ronde," said Ful
lerton. But the average treatment
course is only six to eight months.
"There are very few statewide
facilities that provide longer
treatment.
'The Siletz Tribe," he
said, "just opened a fa
cility for mothers with
children. It's a recovery
house, similar to what
we will have here in GR.
From treatment into a
community house. It
has shown success be
cause it doesn't put you
back in the community
you left, and provides
support for you. You're
still in a structured en
vironment." "Conventional treat
ment for alcohol has
not proved successful
with meth," said Ful
lerton. The alcohol
standard treatment al
lows 21 days for recov
ery. "The only thing
showing any light at
end of the tunnel for
meth are the treat
ment methods used for
cocaine addicts."
The Tribes recently hired Joe
Martineau (Minnesota Chippewa
Tribe, Fond du Lac Band) as its
Meth Treatment Coordinator for
the Tribe's local program. (See sto
ry below) "We got funded through
an ANA (Administration for Native
Americans) grant to provide post
treatment services which may in
clude a recovery or transition hous
ing in Grand Ronde," Martineau
said. "We would be looking to move
forward with that in August." H
The Wisdom Of Three Elders Brought
"Finding my identity" was key to his own recovery.
To Joe Martineau
By Ron Karten
Joe Martineau, a member of the
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Fond
du Lac Band, is Post Treatment
Services Coordinator for the Tribe's
upcoming meth treatment facility.
His role will be to work with new
ly hired counselor Chris Holiday in
a program that provides extend
ed services for
Tribal members
recovering from
meth addiction.
"After my own
recovery I made
a commitment
to give back and
work within the
helping field,"
said Martineau,
now in his 19th
year of recov
ery. "The key to
my recovery," he
said, "was find
ing my identify
and incorporating my culture into
my recovery program. The Native
American healing aspect of my re
covery is what saved me.
"During my treatment I was
lucky enough to meet three differ
ent Native American healers."
"When I went through, and start
ed searching, I found a lot of walls
that came up. People were telling
me what I was doing was wrong, a
lot of fear-based teachings. That
scared me from looking further into
my culture. These three Elders
helped me look at things without
fear and brought me through cer
emonies and helped me incorporate
Native American healing into my
12-step program.
"After a lot of years, I became one
of the helpers and teachers that
helped
me. That
made
t ' X-
personality." Before he quit, he
said, he was addicted to both alco
hol and other drugs. His father was
killed in 1960 in an alcohol-related
car accident, and the week before
he moved to Grand Ronde, he lost a
niece and a nephew to overdoses.
"Our children need a future," he
said, "and they need as many of us
to understand and not condemn
them."
"All children are susceptible to
"T4ie thing that I think will help the children the
most through our culture, is to instill in them
cultural values to strengthen family, because
family is most important."
Joe Martineau, Post Treatment Services Coordinator
my iden
tity even
stronger.
Today, I believe that it's so impor
tant to mix our Native American
healing and culture into our heal
ing program.
Martineau has worked within
the Minnesota Native American
community in many different pro
grams as a counselor and cultural
resource person.
Although he has never done meth
("Meth wasn't a popular drug when
I quit," he said), I have an addictive
peer pressure and experiment
ing and other ways where drugs
will be tempting to them. The
thing that I think will help the
children the most through our
culture, is to instill in them cul
tural values to strengthen family,
because family is most important
in instilling the value that they
are worth more than going down
that road.
"Once they get into meth abuse,
our communities have to under
stand that it's so powerful that
we have to work as a community
and help them. I believe that our
children are our future and this is a
really powerful problem we are fac
ing with meth. It can permanently
damage these people's brains in the
future."
Martineau comes from a large
family back home in Minnesota.
He spent 13 years in non-Indian
foster homes before the passage of
the Indian Child Welfare Act that
has tried to see that Native children
receive Native
foster care place
ments when pos
sible. "My identity
and self-esteem
were gone when
I returned to the
reservation. I
turned to drink
ing and drugs
until I went into
treatment and got help. The great
est part of my help was finding my
identity and where I fit in."
Martineau has two daughters in
college in Minnesota, and, he said,
"Both doing very well."
While the program continues to
look for a recovery house in the
area, Martineau is busy now con
tracting bed space for people who
might need help right now, as well
as helping with counseling and
referring.
For those in need, contact Mar
tineau at 503-879-1690.