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Task force to target 'hillbilly heroin' |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 08 November 2010 |
Task force to target 'hillbilly heroin'
DENISE A. RAYMO
November 8, 2010
AKWESASNE — Akwesasne Mohawks will form a new task force to confront what it calls epidemic abuse of prescription painkillers by youths on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation.
The Tribal Administration office on the American side of the reserve will coordinate with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne to create a plan to battle the abuse of oxycodone and hydrocodone, powerful painkillers normally prescribed to treat chronic back pain.
Tribal law will be written to spell out a long-term and short-term plan to rid the reservation of the abuse, addiction, trafficking and smuggling of oxycodone, which is also known as Oxycontin or "hillbilly heroin."
Tribal Council Sub-Chief Stacy Skidders said the task force could include 10 to 15 professionals from many of the tribe's service agencies, who will create an action plan to present to the Tribal Council within 90 days.
"This is a community issue," she said. "It will be targeted toward drug and alcohol abuse and smuggling, but it is so early in the process we're just starting to get it organized.
"We will bring together the people we need and find out what we'll need to do from them."
She said that once the parameters of the plan are worked out, the data will be shared in informational sessions in Akwesasne, then presented as a draft plan to the Tribal Council at its February community meeting.
This task force is a separate entity from the Franklin County Narcotics and Border Task Force, set up by District Attorney Derek Champagne, but it is an important tool that will help his efforts to combat the trafficking and abuse of these drugs, he said.
Both are from the morphine family, with oxycodone doses being five times stronger than hydrocodone,
"It's synthetic cocaine that is highly addictive," Champagne said.
One 80 milligram pill sells for $80 on the street.
Champagne said it is easy for young people to score the drugs and travel to and from Canada, where a number of manufacturing sites are churning out the merchandise.
The DA said community efforts like the one under way at Akwesasne will likely reduce the number of local overdose cases, which have been more frequently reported lately.
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