The Cherokee Nation recently named advisory councils to assist in drug prevention efforts throughout the tribe's jurisdictional boundaries.
"This program is a community-based effort to help people reclaim their lives and to educate others to not make those poor decisions from the beginning," Principal Chief Chad Smith said. "With this program, our communities will become healthier and the citizens and residents will reach a higher quality of life."
This new program is being funded through two grants, totaling $12 million over the course of five years, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.
"The first grant was for approximately $10.5 million to be awarded over the next five years," B.J. Boyd, deputy director of the tribe's behavioral health. "We will use this money to establish community anti-drug coalitions across the 14 counties of the Cherokee Nation."
An advisory council was appointed and members include State Sen. Jim Wilson (D-Tahlequah), who represents part of Sequoyah County.
The second project specifically focuses on methamphetamine prevention, with portions of the money to be used to hire two prevention specialists to assist in educating the public on methamphetamine awareness.
An advisory council was also appointed for a prevention project, "Not in Our Nation."
"Over the next five years we will be working with 54 communities to better educate the public about the dangers and addictions of drugs and alcohol," Boyd said. "We hope to help them develop local prevention initiatives to reduce drug abuse in their own communities."
For more information on the tribe's behavioral health services, call (918) 458-6285.
