‘We Are Losing A Generation’: Cherokee Nation Fears Loss Of Identity As Opioid Crisis Decimates Tribe
A suit on behalf of the Cherokee Nation has been brought in tribal court against opioid-makers, but the companies are asking a federal judge to deny the tribe’s authority to even bring the case. In other news on the crisis, prosecutors are starting to treat overdoses as homicides; women in Texas who need mental health or addiction help are ending up in jail instead; senators call for more funding for the crisis; and more.
The New York Times:
In Opioid Battle, Cherokee Want Their Day In Tribal Court
Cherokee children were disappearing. At weekly staff meetings, Todd Hembree, the attorney general of the Cherokee Nation, kept hearing about babies in opioid withdrawal and youngsters with addicted parents, all being removed from families. The crush on the foster care system was so great that the unthinkable had become inevitable: 70 percent of the Cherokee foster children in Oklahoma had to be placed in the homes of non-Indians. (Hoffman, 12/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
Prosecutors Treat Opioid Overdoses As Homicides, Snagging Friends, Relatives
After Daniel Eckhardt’s corpse was found on the side of a road in Hamilton County, Ohio, last year, police determined he died of a heroin overdose. Not long ago, law enforcement’s involvement would have ended there. But amid a national opioid-addiction crisis fueling an unprecedented wave of overdose deaths, the investigation was just beginning. Detectives interrogated witnesses and obtained search warrants in an effort to hold someone accountable for Mr. Eckhardt’s death. The prosecutor for Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati and its suburbs, charged three of Mr. Eckhardt’s companions, including his ex-wife and her boyfriend, with crimes including involuntary manslaughter, an offense carrying a maximum prison sentence of 11 years. (Walker, 12/17)
Dallas Morning News:
Unresponsive
As a record number of women go to jail in Texas, sheriffs are increasingly coping with a special class of inmates: women with minor criminal records but major mental-health and addiction problems. A recent federal survey found that almost a third of women in jails showed symptoms of serious psychological distress, even higher than the rate for men. And when inmates die in jail, drugs are more commonly the cause for women than for men, according to an analysis of state data by The Dallas Morning News. At least 10 of the 86 female jail fatalities since 2011 were attributed to overdoses. (Aspinwall and Lamm, 12/17)
The Hill:
Bipartisan Senators Urge Congress To Fund Fight To Curb Opioid Crisis
A bipartisan group of senators is calling on Congress to provide significant funding to battle the opioid epidemic — and quickly. The nine senators hail from areas the epidemic has hit particularly hard, and are arguing there’s an “urgent need for Congress to provide our states with the resources they need to deal with this public health emergency” in a letter sent Friday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). (Roubein, 12/15)
The Associated Press:
Lifesaver Or Distraction? Police Split On Anti-Overdose Drug
The sheriff of Clermont County firmly believes it's a call of duty for his deputies to carry a nasal spray that brings people back from the brink of death by drug overdose. Less than 50 miles away, his counterpart in Butler County is dead set against it, saying it subjects deputies to danger while making no lasting impact on the death toll. The divide over naloxone, the popular overdose antidote, between nearby sheriffs in two hard-hit counties in one of the hardest-hit states for drug deaths shows just how elusive solutions are on the front lines of the U.S. opioid crisis. (12/18)
Denver Post:
Colorado’s Largest Treatment Provider For Drug And Alcohol Addiction Is Closing
Amid an ongoing epidemic of opioid and heroin overdoses, Colorado’s largest provider of treatment for drug and alcohol abuse will close its doors early next year, the victim of long-running financial losses and low government payments. Arapahoe House announced Friday that its last day at all of its locations will be Jan. 2. As of Friday, it will no longer accept new patients. It currently serves 5,000 people a year, all of whom will have to find a new treatment provider. (Ingold, 12/15)
