Substance Abuse on

Indian Reservations
Leading Question

How has substance abuse shaped

the lives of teenagers on Indian
reservations?
Starting Early
According to Dr. Mary Pritchard, there are many native youths who begin to abuse
alcohol at early adolescent ages. The national average age for the first use of alcohol
is 15.7 years, but for people on Indian reservations, the average is only 13.2 years.
There are a few more details on the prevalence of alcohol with young native americans
on reservations.

- The widespread alcoholism on reservations leads to lack of motivation, causing

many students to dropout of school
- Follow trends of white american teens through school, rising up to 83% use as
high school seniors
- Begin early, but use at slower rates than all others
Comparisons on Substance Abuse
At early ages, more children on reservations around 8th grade begin consuming
alcohol compared to anglo communities, with a ratio of 16:7 of use at 8th grade. There
are a few more differences at earlier ages in each community.

- There is a 5:1 ratio between natives and anglos on the use of marijuana at 8th
grade
- There is a 10:3 ratio between the two groups on the use of inhalants at 8th grade

However, once the groups get older, they become very similar on the frequency and
commonality of using these substances. The only piece that showed a bit of variation
was about the use of Marijuana, where there was a 33:13 ratio between white
communities and reservations in the past month.
How Substance Abuse effects Native
American Suicide?

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Different Perspective from The
Washington Post

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Thesis slide
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Works Cited