Blood Tribe killer: How the drug crisis exploded on the southern Alberta First Nation – Globalnews.ca

July 29, 2019

Crime, drugs and overdoses. These are all factors in the opioid crisis that is killing more and more Canadians by the day and destroying countless families. One southern Alberta community is desperately calling for help, after experiencing mass overdoses and death, which has been plaguing the community for years.

The Blood Tribe is the largest reserve in Canada. As you drive through its most populated town, Standoff, instead of seeing billboards for a popular product, you see ads for drug prevention. The issue of drug use in this community is no secret, but things weren’t always this way.

According to Blood Tribe Elder Gilbert Eagle Bear, for generations the Blackfoot people lived substance-free, until alcohol was introduced in the late 1950s. A ban on alcohol resulted in a steady flow of bootleggers into the community, and by the 1960s there was epidemic.

Read More: https://globalnews.ca/news/5689717/alberta-blood-tribe-drug-crisis/