Canada First Nations declare drugs state of emergency

Seven Canadian indigenous tribes have declared a state of emergency due to a worsening drug crisis.

Manitoba's Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council says addiction to opioids, crack and methamphetamine is causing crime, suicide and health problems.

The problem is so bad they say 60% of babies are put on morphine after birth because of their mother's addiction.

Chiefs from seven First Nations are asking for the government's help to set up a treatment centre.

"When I see our grandmothers, who are on prescription drugs, handing them out, it is purveyed right through our communities now, from our grandmothers and grandfathers down," Chief Kenneth Chalmers, Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council chairperson, said during a press conference on Wednesday.

"We get the violence with the alcohol but this is a different thing — it is becoming ultra-violence."

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Thumbnail Flickr CC Chris Peters