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<br />Meth labs
<br />
<br />tax rural
<br />
<br />budgets
<br />
<br />1 district's costs up $1 million
<br />
<br />By 'Coleman Cornelilis
<br />Denver Post Northern Colorado Bureau
<br />
<br />The costs of coping with meth~
<br />amphetamine in seven northeast-
<br />ern Colorado counties increased by
<br />nearly $1 million from 1999 to
<br />2001, proving in dramatic dollar
<br />terms that the drug has become a
<br />scourge in farm and ranch coun-
<br />try, a new study shows.
<br />
<br />Methamphetamine response is_
<br />taxing rural government agencies
<br />from police and fire departments
<br />to courts and social services, ac-
<br />cording to the study released Mon-
<br />day by Colorado State University
<br />Cooperative Extension.
<br />
<br />"People tend to think of drugs as
<br />an urban problem, and this clearly
<br />shows that methamphetamine is a
<br />rural problem as well," said Lilias
<br />Jarding, who headed the study, the
<br />first to quantify the impact of
<br />methamphetamine use andproduc-
<br />tioD on the Eastern Plains.
<br />
<br />The drug's use and manufacture
<br />have mushroomed in the state's
<br />northeastern quadrant because the
<br />activities are more easily hidden,
<br />rural highways offer easy traffick-
<br />ing routes and agricultural chemi-
<br />cals are accessible for production,
<br />Jarding said.
<br />
<br />CSU's outreach division conduct-
<br />ed the study with the state Depart-
<br />ment of Local Affairs for a meth-
<br />amphetamine fasK force in the
<br />state's 13th Judici~ll District,
<br />
<br />which covers seven counties in
<br />northeastern Colorado. .
<br />
<br />Researchers compiled the costs
<br />Of methamphetamine response
<br />from 42 responding agencies in Kit
<br />Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips,
<br />Sedgwick, Washington and Yuma
<br />counties.
<br />
<br />It is not clear what methamphet-
<br />. amine response cost agencies at
<br />. the beginning or end of the study
<br />period, but the/increase over two
<br />years is substantial in poor agricul-
<br />tural counties that are scraping to
<br />meet the needs of residents, study
<br />participants said.
<br />
<br />In just three or four, years; the
<br />addictive drug, a stimulant that
<br />typically is smoked or injected,
<br />has become a major focus for law
<br />enforcement, courts, treatment
<br />agencies, and social services in
<br />,northeastern Colorado, said Tom
<br />Westfall, chairman of the J?inding
<br />a Solution Task Force that commis-
<br />sioned the study. Its use cuts
<br />across socioeconomic lines, he
<br />said.
<br />
<br />, "The problem of methamphet-
<br />amine has grown in leaps and
<br />bounds, and it is stripping our re-
<br />sources," said Westfall, director of
<br />the Yuma County Department of
<br />Social Services.
<br />
<br />At least half the criminal cases
<br />handled by courts in the 13th Judi-
<br />
<br />Please see METH on 38
<br />
<br />'i~ilrtineiit 'of 'LoGai Affairs
<br />. :'.liJ ~
<br />.;Stud : Rural
<br />
<br />~..,r,', Y
<br />
<br />.t~pst to fight
<br />
<br />
<br />j,or' ·
<br />h~'p'!J ugs soaring
<br />
<br />'SMETH. from Page 1 B
<br />
<br />G,fia{ District involve methamphet-
<br />'::i'fi~me - as do many divorce and
<br />? AA~endency al}d neglect cases, said
<br />_..C)llef Judge Steven Shinn, who
<br />!j,~~pes to form a drug court to ad-
<br />. <).lfr~ the problems.
<br />. j.:~::.'l'h~ Morgan County Sheriff's Of-
<br />-,Jfi~ IS on pace to double its drug
<br />l}&ases from 2001 to 2002, and that.
<br />increase is wholly due to meth
<br />,~~~ip l!ndersheriff John Fryar. Th~
<br />i:..w:ug IS a common denominator in
<br />-~Be department's growing caseload
<br />.:p::t ~ll categories, including assault
<br />domestic. violence and burglary:
<br />ilJi'iWar saId. '
<br />1~lf l'y.'Iost alarming to many officials
<br />:mr~ ~e drug's youngest victims:
<br />J,~b~:children of those who use meth-
<br />fHii!1lphetamine and cook it in haz-
<br />giafi!,ous home laboratories.
<br />'6Ili~ethaddi.c~, are notable for ig-
<br />tln9flng farmly responsibilities in
<br />p~tiit of a drug-induced high, and
<br />_,;.B.9~al workers have seen the re-
<br />;,Jiwts as more and more children
<br />~~ taken from their parents and
<br />s:B1aeed in foster care, Westfall
<br />t ~~~9.
<br />ltt.iYt one ~ase, a toddler was put in
<br />-:1!Pster care when the child's moth-
<br />-1~,(and father quit their jobs and
<br />beg.an manufacturing methamphet-
<br />idmllne to feed their habit and earn
<br />:.JI1(mey to get by. In anoth_er case,
<br />~:~~tfaIl said, investigators found
<br />~;b~by's b~ssinet next to drug-pro-
<br />ducmg eqmpment.
<br />-- The study's findings will help
<br />,government agencies understand
<br />;:inp deal with methamphetamine
<br />~~~ '
<br />
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