TREATMENT PROGRAM FOCUSES ON METH ABUSE

BOULDER -- Inside the Elkhorn Treatment Center, the 43 women live
austere, fairly structured lives.

They're all convicted felons, but have been given a second chance
here in Boulder in a therapeutic community for female addicts, which
provides residential treatment for chemical dependency in a
minimum-security facility.

The facility is a private, nonprofit agency ran by Boyd Andrew
Community Services that opened in Boulder earlier this year. The
agency contracts with the Department of Corrections, which decides
who can come here, and the residents are paid a daily wage just like
inmates in jail. Some of the earned money goes toward restitution and
fines residents owe, but the rest can be used to purchase items at
the commissary.

Women wake up early and hit the showers and breakfast, having no time
to be alone. They spend all morning in classes, therapy groups and by
afternoon, usually get some free time. They can exercise, work
puzzles or visit with other residents but are under constant
supervision either through direct contact or video
surveillance.

The women range in age from 21 to nearly 60. They're divided into
four crews, identified by colored scrubs like those worn in hospitals.

No makeup is allowed. No jewelry either.

Simple street clothes, like jeans and T-shirts, represent the
outside. The ability to wear these is an earned privilege. The reward
can be revoked, too, for a lost temper or lashing out at someone.

When phase one is completed, based on individual progress, a woman
can don jeans and, if she wants, a religious medallion.

At phase two, which comes along a few months into the nine-month
program, they are able to wear jeans and two religious medallions.
They also earn two 15-minute phone calls a day, a lifeline to the
outside world.

In the final phase, women can wear their own clothes. The rest of the
phase three details have yet to be ironed out because only a few of
the women who have reached that point are scheduled to be "phased up"
around Thanksgiving.

A healthy lifestyle is apparent in the diet served. Fruit is the only
food constantly available with no restrictions. Cigarettes and
caffeine are banned.

In the large classroom, three meals are served each day equaling
3,600 calories and prepared by the men at Montana State Prison. An
on-site dental care office plays a critical role in not only
physically fixing teeth -- which meth causes to rot -- but also
fostering stronger self-confidence.

A nurse-practitioner visits for routine health examinations. A hair
dresser comes in on Saturdays for cuts, but no permanents or hair dye
are allowed.

The women are encouraged to go outside into the 2,904-square-foot
recreation area, which is surrounded by a security fence. They have a
small running track with a volleyball court that doubles as a
tug-of-war arena and a concrete slab used as a patio area.

They can spend up to 10 hours per day in lectures, group discussions
and therapy.

While the DOC wants to allow persons with any types of addictions
into Elkhorn, right now the focus is on methamphetamine abuse.

Mike Tones, a licensed addiction counselor at the center, told the
women during a recent class that heavy drug use has damaged their
brains, so initially the treatment is repetitive. Days are spent
studying the disease and the damage it causes, the internal battle
and corrective behaviors.

"(Excessive drug use) changes how the brain functions," he said. "It
severs brain synapses, but they grow back."

Tones said it generally takes meth users about a year and half to
rebuild the damaged part of the brain, training it to release
dopamine through healthy activities like exercise. The longer the
abuse, the more time it takes to repair the brain.

Family members may come to the facility to see loved ones, but they
too must participate in education, learning about addiction to gain
an understanding about what the women inside are going through, notes
Sue Carroll, chief operations officer. Visitors also explore how
they can support the person inside the institution as well as after
they are released.

When the women arrive, their baggage includes resentment and anger,
said Laurel Johnston, licensed addiction counselor. She helps them
address those issues, teaching coping skills -- sometimes just to
erase the numbness caused by years of drug abuse.

"They get to a point where the tolerance level is so high that they
really don't get to feel normal anymore," Johnston said. "It's pretty
scary place for them."

Therapies focus on abuse, chemical dependency, mental health,
parenting and strategies for self-improvement. They have counseling
for anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.

These can be an essential part of recovery, especially for someone
like Kristine, who was kidnapped and raped at only 8 years old.

The abuse therapy, Kristine said, "takes away the eternal