By Virginia Grantier,Special to The Denver Post

May 10 ELIZABETH A rash of drug busts of mostly middleschool
students over the last six weeks has this ranching town thinking that it
has lost its image as a reallife Mayberry.

Increasingly popular as a bedroom community for metroarea commuters,
Elizabeth is still too small to have a stoplight. Yet, drugs have found
a road in.

Eleven kids and teenagers are facing possible criminal charges for
possession and sale of marijuana and other drugs, according to police.

One of them, a 13yearold boy, obtained the marijuana he was selling at
Elizabeth Middle School from his 21yearold sister, who paid him with
drugs for babysitting her children, police said.

"His sister told him he could make more money selling pot than
babysitting," said Elizabeth Police Chief Jeff Shaw.

Nine of the kids are Elizabeth Middle School students. Four are facing
felony charges. Community leaders say the crimes, while they may be
commonplace in communities like Denver, are an alarming byproduct of
growth in Elizabeth, which still has fewer than 1,500 residents.

"We've definitely lost some of the innocence we used to have," said
middle school Principal Terry Miller.

Police said the arrests stem from a series of unrelated incidents. The
suspects include:

Four middleschool students ranging in age from 11 to 14, who were
caught in the middle of a marijuana deal in a school bathroom on April
2. The seller said he had gotten the drugs from his older sister in
return for babysitting on a number of occasions.

An eighthgrader who sold 24 marijuana seeds ready for planting to a
fellow student for $20 on April 17. The buyer got scared and was
planning to sell the seeds to another eighthgrader for $10. "The deal
was never done," said Elizabeth police officer Steve Hallett. "They got
busted."

A seventhgrade girl who was giving away what she claimed were "acid"
pills to fellow students on April 30. It turned out the girl had taken
the pills from her mother's medicine chest, many of them prescription
drugs for thyroid problems and musclepain relief.

A 16yearold girl who was found on North Banner Street having a hard
time breathing on March 28. She told police she had been smoking
marijuana with a 15yearold boy and an 18yearold college student.
When police arrived at the home, the 15yearold was throwing up. The
18yearold refused treatment.

Hallett said police suspect the marijuana was laced with PCP, but didn't
have enough to test it.

Police Chief Shaw said he is "shocked" by the flurry of incidents and
the youth of many of the suspects.

Police say the department's workload has skyrocketed since 1991. The
department has five officers up from just one six years ago.

"We used to get 50 to 60 calls a month (to respond to), now we get 300,"
Hallett said.

Hallet said some parents tell police a little marijuana is "no big
deal." But he disagrees.

"We're taking a firm stance on drugs," Hallett said. "Drugs are killing
our society."

Elizabeth Mayor John Kotelec said he thinks some drug use has been going
on for years in the town but is now being caught more often by a
betterequipped police department and a school administration that has
more control over the kids.

But he also said the Elizabeth area has become a bedroom community for
people who commute to Denver.

While the town has only about 1,200 to 1,300 people, the countryside is
attracting thousands who want a few acres of land and rural quiet. The
new immigrants are bringing bigcity problems with them.

Kotelec said kids who are accustomed to a more urban lifestyle are bored
in a town that doesn't have much no swimming pool, movie theater,
recreation center or bowling alley. That makes drugs all the more
alluring.

"I really don't have any true answers or solutions," Kotelec said.
"Other than trying to get them involved in outdoor activities." The town
is trying to organize oneday fishing trips for local kids at Cherry
Creek Reservoir, as well as barbecues and icecream socials.

Unless something is done, Kotelec said, the problem is only going to get
worse.

"I think we're going to have the police over at the middle school more
and more," he said.

The writer can be reached through newsroom@denverpost.com.