Bad Medicine

Drug addiction has always been part of my life. One of the most terrible drugs that has affected the lives of my people is alcohol. However, there were also illegal drugs that were part of the culture of addictive substances. I grew up watching more or less normal people I knew transform into desperate beings who only lived for their next high. Our elders were shocked at the changes in the lives of our young people and they blamed the non-Native culture to the south. However, none of us were immune to these addictions and over time most of us were crippled by the effects of drugs and alcohol.
I always saw drugs as a new phenomenon to our people. Our ancestors gave drugs of any kind the Cree word "Tookoonin", our word for medicine. Since medicines were administered by doctors, we used "Tookoonin" to also describe medical practitioners. It was an important word to us because the doctors that gave these medicines helped to save the lives of many people over the years. Our ancestors and our elders saw the power these medicines had over disease and infection. On the other hand it must also be said that with the coming of the Europeans many diseases also tagged along and killed a huge population of Aboriginal people.
Over the past one hundred years, our people like most throughout the world trusted doctors who administered drugs for our good health. There was no question as to why we were given drugs of any kind when we were sick or ill. We were confident that no one would give these drugs to hurt us in any way, after all the hospital was a place of healing and not of danger.
In the past couple of decades, I have watched a slow and progressive change of everyone's attitude towards prescribed drugs. When I visit southern cities and towns and watch many network television programs I see commercials that advertise diseases or mental illnesses along with a specific drug that offers a cure or remedy. In everyone of these advertisements the audience is urged to contact their family doctor to ask about the drug.
I have always been suspicious of this type of drug pushing. Why would there be a need to show us these drugs on television? Isn't it the doctors job to help us determine our state of health and then either tell us we are OK or guide us towards a path of better health?
Marketing of drugs and illnesses on television doesn't just stop at that media. Most major magazines and print publications offer full page advertisements that detail the same drugs and ailments and more directions to talk to your doctor.
When I looked into this phenomenon for myself through a bit of research and reading, I discovered that pharmaceuticals comprise one of the biggest industries in the world. When it comes to treating disease, drugs have actually helped society in many ways. Many beneficial drugs have been produced that have helped mankind. In earlier days these drugs were developed to meet the needs of terrible disease and in most cases these medications were tested and monitored very well. These days much of the research on these drugs are done by the pharmaceuticals themselves which does not make for proper and honest testing.
When it comes to mental illness the drug business gets even more weird these days. Through history there has never been a real scientific way to find out if someone had a mental health issue or not. Instead, the mental health field has developed into one where medical professionals and psychiatrists decide for themselves what constituents a mental health problem. Mental health illnesses are established by collective and statistical data from psychiatrists and mental health professionals. These disorders are compiled in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Today there are hundreds of mental illnesses that have been assigned over the years and they all have handy drugs to help out. All kinds of advertising tells us that if we feel a little off or sad or down or whatever we can be saved by a drug.
My people were exposed to alcohol around two centuries ago and we gave it the name 'Ish-koo-teh-ah-poo-ee', the Cree word for 'fire water', to describe the burning sensation of the liquid when it was swallowed. When our people in the north became exposed to illegal drugs in the 60s and 70s, we called these new drugs 'Mitchi Tookoonin', the Cree words for 'bad medicine'. We understood these substances were not for healing but were instead being abused the same way as alcohol was. Today I am sad to say it is getting harder and harder to distinguish between the bad medicine and the good medicine. We don't have a word to describe that yet in Cree.www.underthenorthernsky.com