TRIBES TO SHARE $5.6 MILLION GRANT TO FIGHT DRUG ADDICTION

A $5.6 million federal grant awarded to the Montana-Wyoming Tribal
Leaders Council will help American Indian communities battle
addiction to methamphetamine and other substances.

The money, to be dispensed over three years, will fund the Rocky
Mountain Tribal Access to Recovery, a new program designed to broaden
treatment and support systems available to tribal members with addictions.

The Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, made up of
representatives from 10 tribes in the two states, competed for the
grant with 40 applicants from around the country.

"You had a very compelling application that talked about
partnerships," said Terry Cline, administrator of the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration, the federal agency that
awarded the grant. "That really was the point that caught SAMHSA's
eye."

About 15 percent of American Indians in Montana and Wyoming, or about
11,000 people, need some form of substance abuse treatment, Cline
said.

But only 4,000 of them are getting it, he said.

Methamphetamine abuse is of particular concern to tribal
leaders.

"It's like a cancerous growth," said Gordon Belcourt, executive
director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council. "It has
tentacles out there for suicide, tentacles for co-occurring disorders
and mental health problems, declines in productivity and high
unemployment rates."

"It's really indicative of a culture and society in distress."