STATE LEADS U.S. IN MARIJUANA USE

Drug, Alcohol Consumption High, Study Says

Sept. 1, 2000 - A new national study paints a grim picture of
Colorado's war on drugs: The state leads the nation in overall
marijuana use and ranks higher than average in the percentage of
teenage users.

"We're kind of a crossroads in the country for drug trafficking. We
have a major international airport, and we have wide open plains which
can contribute to cultivation and growing illegal drugs," said Bruce
Mendelson, a data analyst with the Colorado Division of Alcohol and
Drug Abuse. "The drugs these days are much more potent, and the
effects are more profound. So it's more than about how the numbers of
people using marijuana are going up, but about how more people are
getting their hands on the really potent stuff."

The 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse was released Thursday
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It measured use
of illegal drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

Nationwide, the survey showed illegal drug use by teens ages 12-17
declined, from 11.4 percent in 1997 to 9.9 percent in 1998 and 9
percent last year. But drug use increased among 18- to 25-year-olds,
rising from 14.7 percent in 1997 to 16.1 percent in 1998 and 18.8 in
1999.

Drug use among those older than 26 has remained stable since 1994,
according to the report.

In its first-ever state-by-state breakdown, the survey showed
Colorado's overall population ranking above the national average in
every category except cigarette smoking and tops in the country in
marijuana use.

Nationally, 5.2 percent of respondents of all ages reported marijuana
use within the last month. In Colorado, the survey estimated 8.1
percent of people used the drug within a month of the survey.

In addition, Colorado ranked as one of the leading states for
marijuana use between the ages of 12 and 17. Nationally, 7.9 percent
of marijuana users were between those ages. In Colorado that number
was estimated at 10.8 percent, tying it for seventh in the country.
Among 18- to 26-yearolds the state also tied for seventh.

The state's Mendelson works with agencies rehabilitating drug users
and said he has noticed an increase in teen users for years. "The
numbers of kids using it have gone up, and that doesn't surprise
me,''he said. "That's been an increasing trend over the last 10 years.
We've had a lot of under 18-year-old kids coming in needing treatment."

Adam Brickner, appointed recently as Denver's first drug czar, said he
wasn't surprised by the survey results.

"I haven't read the study yet, but it doesn't surprise me," Brickner
said. "I think there's an independence out here (in the West) that
contributes to that."

In July, police raided a home in rural Weld County and discovered one
of the most extensive drug operations ever seen in Colorado. Police
found a 9-foot-deep bunker under a house that served as an elaborate
marijuana growing operation.

The Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, an arm of the state Department
of Human Services, channels state funds to private agencies that
provide drug and substance abuse treatment. Mendelson said the
division helps about 40,000 people a year get treatment for substance
abuse. Many of them are teens.

In 1999, 6,240 Coloradans received treatment for marijuana use through
the division, Mendelson said. Of that number, 32 percent were under
the age of 18, and 27 percent were between the ages of 18 and 25.

In 1998, the division treated 5,665 people for marijuana addiction.
Forty percent of that group was under 18, Mendelson said.