ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN CANADIAN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IS A MASSIVE PROBLEM BY EVAN WALKER

By Evan Walker | For Walling's Blogspot| Posted Many 15th, 2019, 8:15

We’ve all seen them, drunk, high, withdrawing and some begging for change. You're uncomfortable in this situation, aren’t you? So, you turn your head away from that person and carry on with your day. You didn’t do anything wrong, but the problem will get worse if we people continue ignoring this problem like how you just went on with your day. Not much we can do now to help those people going down those paths, but we can try to prevent this in our youth.

I couldn’t find any statistics on how many of our indigenous people have used alcohol or used substances but first we must acknowledge the inter-generational trauma from the residential schools and 60s scoop and its effects on our indigenous youth. The trauma effects not only our youth but our indigenous community as a whole. It has caused long term depression, psychological damage, high suicidal rates, and diseases, self-destructive behavior and many more negative effects from being oppressed from Canadas society and government. A National Canadian school study was published in September 2007 found that grades 7 – 9 two thirds of students have consumed alcohol/marijuana and one third of that study they found those grades 7 - 9 students have binge on alcohol/marijuana in the past year at least once. The trauma effects and the big problem of the general youth (indigenous and non-indigenous) with drugs especially puts our indigenous youth at a higher risk for them to follow those paths of the indigenous people we see wandering high or drunk with their lost eyes and broken souls. Every story has another side to it. Some people think those wandering had it coming for them or its only their fault for where they are in life. I’m sad to say I used to think about them in that discriminating way also, what changed my mind is the day I learned about inter-generational trauma. Learning about it introduced a new important view to the world.

There is nothing to fix this damage done all at once, but little preventative baby steps will make a difference over time. the youth don’t get addicted the first time they try the substance, they may like what it feels like but that isn’t an addiction. Using drugs and alcohol at a young age for anyone can start to become a coping mechanism for person, then the addiction really starts to take place. The reason why our indigenous youth is at greater risk is because most of their childhood they have been around those substances and see first had the unhealthy coping techniques. They themselves they see it helps but in reality it just continues the trauma worse. So, in order for these kids to learn better coping skills, it needs to start early in schooling.

Works Cited

Canadian Youth Drug Use National School Studyhttp://www.ccsa.ca/Resource%20Library/ccsa-011521-2007-e.pdf   Retrieved, Monday, May 6, 2019  11:35 AM

Inter-generational trauma https://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/visions/indigenous-people-vol11/intergenerational-trauma-and-indigenous-helaing  Retrieved, Monday, May 6 11:55am