There have been tremendous changes throughout the years regarding addiction and drugs.
Irma Skunkcap the Program Manager at the Chemical Dependency Center on the Fort Belknap reservation has been involved with the Chemical Dependency Center for roughly 20 years. She shares the various changes she’s noticed throughout that time.
“Well when I first started out as a counselor it was just all alcohol and it progressed to methamphetamine. We didn’t know anything about meth back then we had to get the training to learn how to work with the clients that were addicted to that cause they needed a different type of care. Then it moved to stronger stuff, heroin, methadone, it seemed like it was more and more opioids coming into treatment. Now the fentanyl is a big trend. So that’s what we’ve progressed to, this big thing of fentanyl. It is killing people.” -Irma Skunkcap
Irma continues to explain overall what she has come to understand regarding drugs and addiction.
“All in all, it’s a brain addiction. The brain is not picky, it’s addicted. So, we try to work with people to understand that. That the addictions they’re all separate, and you can recover, but you have to want it.” -Irma Skunkcap
