Alcohol-related deaths of American Indians. Stereotypes and strategies.

Abstract

The article on pedestrian and hypothermia deaths among American Indians in New Mexico in this issue of JAMA 1 presents insightful information on an important issue. Using death certificates, Gallaher et al found an excessive rate of pedestrian and hypothermia deaths among American Indians compared with the rest of the population. These data indicate that those most at risk for pedestrian and hypothermia deaths are intoxicated males who travel on foot. Furthermore, these two types of deaths were concentrated in border towns and on the roads leading back to reservations where the sale of alcohol is prohibited. The authors conclude that prohibition of alcohol on Indian reservations is a significant contributing factor to the high pedestrian and hypothermia death rates. See also p 1345. Hence, in addition to some short-term solutions, they suggest that American Indian tribes examine the issue of prohibition more thoroughly in their effort to find long-term