'CHASING DRAGON' OF METH IN REGION

Methamphetamine is a scourge in Northeastern Colorado.

The region is number one in the state per capita in meth abuse, second
in the state in drug abuse, according to Marcus Flores, coordinator
for a project to get a detox and treatment facility in the area.

And Colorado is second in the country in drug and alcohol abuse and
49th in funding, he says.

Meth is no respecter of gender, race, economic status or
age.

Today The Times presents a special section, "Chasing the Dragon,"
regarding meth use in the Morgan County area and its impacts on users,
their families and the community.

Chuck Hobbs, a local attorney who defends a large number of cases, has
seen people from the teens to their 40s or older sucked into the meth
trap.

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Some are women trying to lose weight; some are men trying to cope with
long, tough work days; some are lured by the high -- hence the phrase,
"chasing the dragon," trying for that elusive first high that never
comes again as the body builds tolerance to the drug.

"What makes me sad is the people who think they can manage the drug,"
Hobbs says.

He tells of a middle-class teenager who graduated from high school
and, within six months of starting to use meth, had eight felonies on
his record and was headed to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for a
five-year prison term.

"When he was 17 he had never been in trouble in any way, shape or
form," Hobbs says.

He also told of a 47-year-old man who went through a divorce with his
wife getting custody of the children, then the death of his father.

A co-worker then introduced him to meth.

He was given probation on a possession charge but kept getting "hot
U.A.'s," urinalysis tests positive for drugs.

"The initial charge isn't that serious, but he can't stay clean,"
Hobbs says.

The man is off to DOC for four years.

A 21-year-old man moved to Fort Morgan to get away from meth, found a
demand and started dealing.

"What started out to be an opportunity to get away from meth turned
into a business opportunity," Hobbs says.

"I can't think of a town in Colorado," he adds, "where you can move
and not find a demand."