METH TREATMENT WING PROPOSED FOR COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS
CENTER

RIFLE - A methamphetamine treatment wing is being considered as a
possible eventual addition to Garfield County's new community
corrections center.

The addition is proposed as part of the county's five-year
plan.

The meth wing would be built in response to a growing problem of
local meth use. The community corrections center's director, Guy
Meyer, said the addition would allow for 45-day, in-house treatment
in a residential setting, apart from the rest of the center's
population. Meth users requiring such treatment now must be sent to
facilities outside the county.

Meyer called meth "a pretty devastating drug" that's highly
addictive. Many users don't get help until they are caught and end up
in the criminal justice system, he said.

The meth wing is merely conceptual at this point. It hasn't been
approved by county commissioners, and Meyer said it's not envisioned
to be built for several years, if ever. After all, it's possible that
meth will go out of fashion, he said.

"Gosh, five years from now there could be a new drug of choice," he
said.

The county opened the 60-bed, $1.5 million community corrections
center in May across from the county airport in Rifle. It provides an
alternative sentencing option for mostly nonviolent, mid-level felony
offenders, and allows clients to be released each day to go to work.

A proposed meth wing could be as large as 34 beds. County manager Ed
Green said the addition could cost at least $2.5 million.