Congress passed the Native Races Act prohibiting the sale of alcohol or opium to "aboriginal tribes and uncivilized people"
The law replicated a situation which already existed in many states. For example, Wyoming's law provided;
§ 5814. Selling liquor to Indians. Any person who shall sell, barter or give away any spirituous or intoxicating liquor to any Indian or Indians, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined in any sum not more than one thousand dollars, to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail for any period not more than six months. [ L. 1890 , ch . 73 , § 147 ; R. S. 1899 , § 4974. ]
These laws are Unconstitutional.
Alcohol, which didn't exist in large quantities in Native American societies before the arrival of European Americans (it did exist, as did other intoxicants) was and remains a real problem. An anthropology professor I had at Casper College maintained that this was due to Native Americans being exposed to the worst European Americans, who were alcohol abusers themselves. However, it's now widely believed that there's a genetic component to this and to quote a scientific study of the matter:
Substance dependence has a substantial genetic component in Native Americans, similar in magnitude to that reported for other populations. The high rates of substance dependence seen in some tribes is likely a combination of a lack of genetic protective factors (metabolizing enzyme variants) combined with genetically mediated risk factors (externalizing traits, consumption drive, drug sensitivity/tolerance) that combine with key environmental factors (trauma exposure, early age of onset of use, environmental hardship/contingencies) to produce increased risk for the disorder.
Evidence for a Genetic Component for Substance Dependence in Native Americans, Cindy L Ehlersm Ian R Gizer.
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