Colorado Drug Addiction Overview

Colorado and the Rocky Mountains offer snowy mountains and wide open grasslands - a desirable destination for people tired of urban centers on the East or West Coasts or Midwest industrial cities. City dwellers may retire to this area or open businesses so they can be located close to exquisite skiing, hiking or hunting locations. While they may escape the congestion of the city, wherever there are Interstates and population centers, drug traffickers will soon bring their wares to the market.

Colorado is crossed by eight Interstates: I-15, I-25, I-70, I-76, I-80, I-84, I-90 and I-94. The central location and high ethnic population of Denver and its suburbs makes it a perfect distribution center for drugs coming into the U.S. across the Canadian border, or for drugs being trafficked north from the Southwest border. Fifteen Ports of Entry (POE) from Canada exist in Montana, and Interstates 15 and 90 link these POEs with Denver and Salt Lake City, both major drug distribution points.

Plenty of Resources for Drug Distribution

What criminal drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) need are transportation facilities such as these interstates plus plenty of individuals who are willing to carry out retail activities. The DTOs find these people in Colorado urban, suburban and tribal areas two ways: they use existing street gangs, or they provide samples of their drugs (often methamphetamine) to people who then become addicted. To maintain their supply of drugs, these addicted people carry out retail sales or commit other crimes such as property invasions, identity theft or counterfeiting. Some groups of criminals band together for sophisticated criminal activities so they can acquire the funds to purchase methamphetamine from Mexican drug traffickers bringing the drugs across the southwest border.

Hispanic street gangs are involved in heavy criminal activity directed toward pushing out other ethnic gangs to gain more territory. They replace some street gangs who either changed the drug they were dealing from methamphetamine to crack cocaine, and moved to the suburbs to escape the increased law enforcement pressure in the cities.

More Focus on Area by More Groups

Newer players in the region are the Asian drug trafficking organizations who distribute high-potency marijuana or MDMA (Ecstasy) or who establish indoor grow houses across the region. Both MDMA and high potency “BC Bud” from British Columbia are brought through one of the 18 POEs from Canada, or they may be brought cross-country by hired hikers or by ATV or snowmobile.

There are also outdoor grows being managed by Mexican drug traffickers, often in national parks, that create threats to innocent travelers due to armed guards protecting the grow area, and severe environmental hazards due to toxic chemicals and trash left behind, and destruction of the ecosystem used for cultivation.

“Cheese” Moves North

“Cheese” is a combination of heroin and chopped-up Tylenol or cold medications. The final product resembles parmesan cheese. Previously, cheese was only seen in the Dallas area where it was responsible for 18 overdose deaths. Cheese offers a very low-cost high, with a package of cheese being sold for as little as $2. Cheese has recently appeared in Boulder County where it is popular among Hispanic juveniles as young as 10.

Colorado’s Most Dangerous Drug Trend

The most dangerous aspect of the drug scene in Colorado and its cities is that drug trafficking and use is on the increase. The biggest threat is the highly addictive and physically damaging ice methamphetamine. Recent supplies of meth have been more pure and lower cost than earlier supplies.

More indoor grows of high potency marijuana, more methamphetamine, more drug-related crime, more gang involvement across the state and the entire Rocky Mountain region - everything points to an increased need for something effective to combat the demand to put these criminal groups out of business.

Narconon Colorado Brings Help in the Area

So several individuals who cared about Colorado citizens established a Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Ft. Collins, north of Denver and near the base of the Rockies. Just 62 miles from Denver, 55 miles from Boulder and 14 miles from Loveland, this Narconon offers Coloradans a chance to live a completely drug-free life. The phases of the Narconon program help former addicts cleanse the residual drugs from their bodies that may contribute to triggering drug cravings, then goes on to teach them effective life skills such as how to choose friends who help them steer clear of future drug use and how to resolve difficult situations in life without resorting to drug use.

And illicit drugs are not the only problem in Colorado. More than 350,000 people each year need rehabilitation treatment for alcohol addiction but do not receive it. In all, close to half a million people in the state are addicted to drugs or alcohol but do not manage to find a drug rehabilitation facility to help them.

Finally, those in Colorado who have become addicted to crack cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, heroin or alcohol have a chance at a new life free from addiction, thanks to the life-saving services delivered at Narconon Ft. Collins drug treatment center.

Editor

Narconon Drug Information Department