Officials say dealing with meth poses unique problems

By Brian Hassler
Staff Writer

SHIPROCK — Drug prevention specialist Raymond Keeswood, of Shiprock, has been warning students, adults and anyone who will listen about the dangers of methamphetamine for some time.

Long before the Navajo Nation's governing council voted 64-0 to outlaw the powerful stimulant, Keeswood has been pointing to the problems that come from use of the drug but admits that the decision to outlaw the drug may not have the desired effect.

"I hope it puts a stop to it, but we don't have a lot of jails and even the police officers we have are low-funded," said Keeswood. "When people call, they respond but if there's no evidence they can't do anything. I wish we were at the level that we could address it as the outside, or rest of the world, does. They have teams that are funded to deal with this sort of thing. We have to get help from the outside when trying to stop meth use and distribution."

For counselor Bill Nockidennis, the availability of the drug isn't the primary issue, but it's the lack of parental guidance that is leading the youth in Shiprock to use methamphetamine.

"The grandparents are raising the children because the mom and dads and working," said Nockidennis. "There are a lot of situations like that. The children get into meth and the parents don't know what's going on because they're at work and the communication gap with their kids becomes wider."

Even if the police are called on those children, Nockidennis added that the grandparents go to great lengths to protect their grandchildren.

"When the kids get caught or someone calls the cops, the grandparents protect them," he said. "A lot of times the grandparents will get robbed by their grandchildren and they'll come out and say that their grandchildren didn't rob them. The kids know how to manipulate the grandparents."

But the passing of the law will give police greater abilities to limit the use of meth as well as the high number of violent crimes that are related to use of the drug.

"We have always been investigating it and we were already looking into it at a federal level," said Randy John, Shiprock Navajo Police captain. "But now that it's illegal on a tribal level it gives the authority to get the arrest and bring charges, whereas before it was difficult at the tribal level."

In the past, police officers couldn't bring charges against someone caught using methamphetamine, instead they were required to find a larger quantity of the drug or locate the supplier. The passing of the bill will give officers the opportunity to bring charges against those caught using the drug.

John said that the last major arrest involving methamphetamine was two years ago and that use of the drug has been seen from both juveniles and adults.

Despite the addition of methamphetamine as an illegal drug in the Navajo Nation, Keeswood says that there will need to be additional measures taken to slow down the use of the drug in Shiprock.

"It is here but people don't want to accept that it is," said Keeswood. "That's the dangerous part of it because if this blows up and gets out of hand then people start to ask why weren't they told and they pretty much were. That's the sad part of this. It can be called illegal but what else are they going to do after that."

Brian Hassler is The Independent's Four Corners reporter based in Shiprock. Contact him via email at brianhassler@hotmail.com or call 360-7862.