WHAT'S THE DOPE ON DOPE IN BOULDER?

Boulder's rate of marijuana use in a recently released national survey is
provoking an array of reactions from students and members of the community.

A recent report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, a division of the United States Department of Health and
Human Services, ranked Boulder number two in the country in marijuana use.

The city was designated as a "substate" region, as defined by the state of
Colorado, with use of marijuana by 10.3 percent by residents 12 and over.

The report surveyed 331 substates that collectively represent all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted in order to
distribute the substance abuse treatment grant funds from the Substance
Abuse and Mental health Administration.

Chuck Stout, Public Health Director of the Boulder County Public Health
Department, noted last week's report was a national survey conducted from
1999 to 2001, averaging together usage rates in cities across the nation.

"It's (report) not that valid of information from four to six years ago,"
said Stout. "They should recalculate numbers from the past three years."

Students say the ground-level reality of marijuana use is often more
complex than research can show.

"I'm not that surprised," said Luke Banta, a CU-Boulder junior and native
Boulderite, regarding the ranking. "It's a lot of very liberal people in
Boulder

I think it's a large target area for people to try to sell (marijuana)."

Former Boulder City Councilman and Boulder County Commissioner Paul Danish,
long an opponent of the war on drugs, said people should not underestimate
how demand for marijuana influences its presence and availability.

"Market forces aren't repealed by the fact that something is outlawed; it
changes the nature of the market," said Danish. "But if Boulder is number
two and demand is obvious, there's going to be a supply that comes forward
to meet it. It's called the invisible hand."

Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said law enforcement officers are well
aware of all substance abuse in Boulder. He added that the best thing law
enforcement officials can do is continue a balanced approach of education,
treatment and enforcement of laws regarding marijuana and other substances.

Pelle acknowledged the numbers in the report were compiled over four years
ago and agreed they don't accurately reflect current levels of substance
abuse in Boulder.

Still, he says, it's important for people to understand the precise nature
of drug enforcement in the county.

"Their (Boulder County Drug Task Force) priorities are driven by public
safety; they are very actively trying to work distribution cases, they're
not actively out looking for people smoking marijuana," said Pelle.

This past April, CU-Boulder students passed a referendum asking University
officials to make marijuana penalties equivalent to alcohol violations in
terms of campus disciplinary action.

Safe Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), a Boulder organization,
created the referendum with the notion that marijuana use is safer than
alcohol use because no one ever dies smoking pot. CU officials say the
referendum was non-binding and won't impact their policies on drug use.

Last year saw a number of fatalities related to drinking at Colorado
colleges, including CU, and at schools around the nation. CU freshman Lynn
Gordon "Gordie" Bailey died in mid-September after a drinking ritual
organized by his fraternity.

"I think it's (referendum) pretty dumb," said Banta. "It seems like it all
became a big deal after that kid (Bailey) died. People would come and speak
in our classes about making the change."

SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert was skeptical at the amount of
attention directed toward marijuana in the recent report, noting that
Boulder also has a high rate of alcohol use.

"While they're saying it's such a problem that there's so much marijuana
use going on, given the relative harm of marijuana compared to alcohol, it
seems strange that they didn't care as much about the fact that alcohol use
is skyrocketing," Tvert said.

Stout said a recalculated federal survey could lend more details on a
broader range of substance abuse.

"Putting heavy-duty focus on marijuana right now seems to be pretty
misplaced given what is happening with regard to continuing extraordinary
harm related to alcohol," said Stout.

Danish said that examining the similarities between alcohol, once an
outlawed substance, and marijuana could help end the war on drugs.

"The only way out of the cycle is going to be to end (marijuana)
prohibition. Which, in this case, means it could be some formula. The most
obvious would be to start treating marijuana the same way we treat alcohol
and have a regulated market in it," said Danish.

When it comes to comparing alcohol and marijuana, Pelle offered that
"Prohibition didn't work when they tried it the last time."

He added that he thinks law enforcement's job is "to try to keep drunk
drivers off the road and to make sure kids feel safe about calling in an
alcohol overdose. The other thing is to continue to fight to keep illicit
drugs off the street. Keep people out of harm's way: it's a public safety
thing all the time."

Meanwhile, it appears unlikely pot in Boulder will go away any time soon.

"It's (marijuana) just all around you, anytime you go out at night," said
Banta.

* The Associated Press contributed to this report.