COLORADO'S RATE OF DRUG USE SOBERING

The state ranks first in the U.S. in cocaine use; fourth for drugs overall.
Are we blind to the dangers? We rank 49th in substance abuse effort.

It was certainly sobering to see Colorado at the top of the state rankings
when it comes to the abuse of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. All the more
so because we're 49th out of 50 in per-capita spending for substance-abuse
programs.

A new study from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration shows the greatest percentage of abusers are between ages 18
and 25. About 47 percent of that age group of Coloradans admitted to binge
drinking - consuming five or more drinks on the same occasion in the past
month, according to the survey done in 2002 and 2003. This in a state where
44 percent of traffic fatalities between 1999 and 2003 were
alcohol-related, compared with 41 percent nationally.

Colorado ranks No. 1 for cocaine use, fourth for use of any illegal drug,
first for use of any illegal drug except pot, and eighth for marijuana use.
One in 12 Coloradans smoked pot in the past year, and one in 25 used
cocaine. (Recently, methamphetamine edged out cocaine as the state's third
most common drug after alcohol and marijuana.)

Janet Wood, director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division in the Colorado
Department of Human Services, cites a variety of reasons for the state's
ignominious level of substance abuse. "We have a relatively young citizenry
[Colorado's median age is 34.3 years vs. 35.3 years nationally], a
recreational lifestyle, and a lot of tourism comes into the state to play,"
Wood said. Also, two interstate highways - I-70 and I-25 - and a busy
international airport are conduits for illegal drugs. And rural Colorado
offers many reclusive spots for manufacturing illegal drugs. Additionally,
Wood said, a large percentage of Coloradans have used alcohol and drugs in
their lifetimes, and about 7 percent to 8 percent are substance-dependent.

State funding for treatment is $27 million, Wood said, with $4 million more
in federal money for prevention. The budget crunch cost the division $2.1
million in funding the last couple years. She notes that each dollar spent
on prevention saves hundreds of dollars in social costs, from jammed jails
to broken families.

The effects are far-reaching: Auto insurance rates are higher in states
like Colorado with large numbers of alcohol-related accidents, according to
Robin Harbage, an insurance actuary in Cleveland.

One bright spot is that drug abuse has declined to half of its 1970s
levels, as it has elsewhere. "The real solution is to prevent the problem
from occurring in the first place," said Wood. "Substance abuse is
preventable behavior." But that's no easy task when the relevant programs
are cut in a TABOR stranglehold.