Cowlitz tribe again offering youth addiction treatment in Hazel Dell, one of few places in the county that treats youth

After a pause during the pandemic due to a lack of providers, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe now offers addiction treatment for youth at its Hazel Dell office. The clinic is one of the few in Clark County that treats children and teenagers with substance use disorders.

A shortage of specialized providers in the area has created a gap in services for youth, clinic staff said.

But, like adults, youth have been swept up in the rise of opioids and fentanyl — whether they mean to consume those drugs or not. From 2020 to 2022, 43 people 24 years old and younger have fatally overdosed in Clark County, according to county data.

But hard drugs aren’t the only issue for youth in Southwest Washington, staff at the tribe’s clinic said. In the six weeks the clinic has served youth, marijuana is the drug most have sought help overcoming.

Marijuana is not what it used to be, said substance use disorder professional Amie-Jo Brassfield. As marijuana use has become more socially acceptable, the drug has also become more powerful.

At the clinic, staff help youth address the underlying issues causing them to use drugs while guiding them toward long-term sobriety.

“Treatment is really a lot about self-discovery. And it’s about gaining a life back that you lost, and the possibility of gaining meaning back in your life,” said Dave Pulliam, the tribe’s manager of clinical services.

Not your parents’ pot

Higher levels of THC — cannabis’ psychoactive component — in marijuana products have contributed to addictions among youth.

The THC content of marijuana in the 1960s and 1980s averaged about 2 percent, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association.

“Your idea is a happy hippie — peace, love,” Brassfield said.

Now, someone of legal age can go to any marijuana shop in Vancouver and buy an odorless vape with 99 percent THC.

“It brings about aggression. There are all kinds of things that we won’t even know, probably for years, of what’s really going on,” Brassfield said.

Pulliam said social acceptance of marijuana use has contributed to its widespread use among youth. A third of Clark County students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades report having used marijuana, according to Washington’s 2023 Healthy Youth Survey.

“Even in the therapeutic side of things, people say, ‘I can’t stop this stuff. I get panic attacks, I get depressed.’ It’s hardcore stuff,” Pulliam said.

Parents should take note if children become unmanageable or give up beloved hobbies, Brassfield said. Those are red flags for addiction.

“I think that parents are usually aware, but what to look for is the lack of engagement in things that they used to enjoy — the behavior change,” Brassfield said.

Kara Frizzell, program manager for the tribe’s behavioral health program, said youth often start using drugs or alcohol to cope with an issue, just like adults.

“They’re masking what they want to mask, and so it feels good, and they keep doing it,” she said.

Holistic approach

Although marijuana is the main addiction the clinic sees youth for, youth with opioid and alcohol addictions have also sought help there. For any addiction, the tribe takes a holistic approach to treatment. That means confronting addiction and underlying mental health issues at once.

Medical settings often take a more Westernized approach to addiction treatment, Pulliam said, treating a symptom rather than its cause.

“I think that’s what makes the tribe pretty unique, is that we do see systems. We do see a holistic person … in that sort of Native philosophy of coming together as a family and healing,” Pulliam said.

Much of the tribe’s treatment involves counseling and group therapy (although it can refer youth to inpatient treatment, as well). Group therapy is especially helpful for youth in recovery, Pulliam said, because social support helps keep people sober.

“I think that’s what makes youth services a little harder is because they usually get caught up in a crowd in which they’re using, as well,” he said. “So finding a peer group that is clean and sober is very difficult.”

Counselors also help youth identify how to achieve the goals they had before they became addicted, Pulliam said.

“No one starts out as like a kid saying, ‘I want to be a fentanyl addict when I grow up.’ They had dreams. They had they had morals. They had a set of values,” he said. “And along the way, the addiction took those away.”

Although the clinic prioritizes members of federally recognized tribes, they also treat others needing help, Frizzell said.

The tribe hopes to build a network of sources, including schools, to refer youth whose parents might not bring them in for help. But if families do seek help for their children, it’s important to participate in their children’s recovery process, Frizzell said.

“We often see families bring youth in, whether it’s for mental health or (substance use disorder) services, and want us to fix them,” she said. “It’s a family system issue, whether it’s mental health or (substance use disorder) or both. It’s a family system challenge that everybody has to work on.”