COALITION FORMS TO TACKLE METH

MONTROSE -- It's been blamed for property crimes, child endangerment
and a burgeoning court caseload. Now, several Montrose agencies are
coming together to say: no more meth.

The Montrose Methamphetamine Coalition announced its official
organization at a press conference Monday. The coalition is a joint
effort by the county, city, law enforcement and social agencies that
will address public safety, prevention, public awareness, treatment
and drug-endangered children components of the meth problem.

"We are very excited. As everyone here is aware, we do have a
significant problem," County Commissioner Allan Belt said Monday. "We
have a very strong vision and that is a meth-free Montrose County."

Belt will chair the committee on prevention, awareness and public relations.

Montrose City Councilman Jos/ Abeyta said tackling substance abuse
was one of the city's eight top goals. He also said the area needed
to understand why a systematic, community-specific response to meth
was necessary.

"(Meth) is totally non-discriminatory. It will take anybody and
everybody. It will take you if you come."

He later added a treatment strategy was vital. "We need to provide
treatment. We need to face the fact that even people using it need our help."

Abeyta said the costs of meth were "tremendous" and not purely financial.

"Dollar-wise, you can put a price tag on it, but the real cost is who
it affects," he said. "It doesn't only affect the user."

Meth use impacts entire families; businesses who employ meth users --
and those who are employed by meth users. With roughly 150 arrests
due to meth last year, and more from "spin-off" crimes motivated by
meth, it is also costing the taxpayer, who funds jails and the court system.

Part of the coalition's job is to pursue hard and fast statistics on
the actual crimes related to meth, Montrose Police Chief and
coalition member Tom Chinn said. Anecdotal evidence is often cited to
give a percentage of related crimes.

"The bottom line is, we're not sure we really know that. We're
probably going to change the ways we collect the data," he said.

This and other specific data will be used to obtain grant funding,
MPD Sgt. Paul Eller, coalition chair, said. "We're trying to develop
a picture of Montrose County. From there, we will formulate a plan to
solve our problems."

Montrose County's particular situation could be different from nearby
communities, such as Grand Junction, which last year unveiled a
methamphetamine task force. Montrose coalition members said while
they are receiving pointers from some task force members, such as
Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland, their organization is not
specifically modeled after Grand Junction's.

Sheriff Rick Dunlap said once the coalition was armed with data, it
would look at what other communities are doing. "We don't want to
reinvent the wheel, but we do want to take advantage of what's out
there," he said.

And, said Belt, Montrose County's picture needed to include
communities on the West End, which are located in the commission
district he represents.

"We're talking most definitely about the West End, which is a hot
spot. Ignoring the problem doesn't work. Piecemeal doesn't work.
We're waging all-out war," he said.

Roxy Allex, mayor of the West End town of Nucla, said she was glad to
hear about the coalition. In a phone interview, she told the Daily
Press she has been pushing for more public awareness about meth's
scourge on her town.

"We see more of the after-effects over here. The meth crowd over here
is pretty organized. In a lot of ways, they are creating problems for
other citizens."

Allex told of domestic violence incidents and burglaries thought
linked to meth and said she worries about the safety of children
growing up in such environments. She said the area's economy doesn't
allow for many resources to help people stay away from meth or to
escape its clutches.

"We need to do something. They're (dealers) organized; they have each
others' backs. We need to start doing the same thing. In a lot of
ways, it's like dealing with a gang. They band together and we need
to start doing the same," she said.

"From what I understand meth is, it's just a new monster. It can't be
classified with other drugs. I think we're just starting to see the
destruction."

At the press conference, Abeyta said a community solution was the
only solution. "We need eyes and ears and some sweat equity to make
this happen," he said.

Community members are encouraged to join the coalition.