Pubdate: Wed, 21 Nov 2001
Source: Louisville Times (CO)
Copyright: 2001 Louisville Times
Fax: (303) 666-6602Contact:  1285 Centaur Village Drive., Lafayette, 80026
Website: http://www.coloradohometownnews.com/Louisville/louisville.html
Author: Trevor Hughes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

BRITTNEY CHAMBERS TEEN CENTER PROPOSED FOR CITY

Mother Seeks To Help Others Avoid Ecstasy Death Suffered By Daughter

The mother of a former Monarch High School student who died after taking 
ecstasy is following through on plans to establish a local teen center in 
her daughter's honor.

Marcie Chambers on Nov. 19 filed with Louisville city officials plans for 
the "Rose Teen and Resource Center," to be located in the basement of 
Christopher Village at 1075 S. Boulder Road.  In her filing, Chamber said 
the free center would give teens a safe drug-free place to 
socialize.  Brittney Chambers, a former Monarch student from Superior, died 
after taking an ecstasy pill in late January to celebrate her 16th birthday.

"Included in the teen resource center would be a place where accurate 
information on the dangers of substance abuse could be obtained," Marcie 
Chambers wrote in her letter to the city's Planning Department. "I firmly 
believe that if my daughter and her friends were aware of the possible 
danger of taking ecstasy, they would have never made the choices they did."

According to the application, the center would feature: counseling on 
drugs, sex and alcohol, dances, pool and air hockey tables, a recording 
studio and food and drinks.  The federal Drug Enforcement Administration 
would play a key role in the center, Chambers said.

In her letter, Chambers said the owner of the building has offered the use 
of a 4,000-square-foot basement for the teen center.  Chambers said she's 
met with tenants of the retail plaza, which include several restaurants and 
a kid's museum, and heard support for the plan.  She hopes to open this spring.

The center would be open 4-10 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m.-midnight Fridays and 
Saturdays.

"In my opinion, we are almost in a crisis situation with our teen- agers," 
Chambers said at the end of her application.  "While I am not naive enough 
to believe there is an easy answer, or that a teen resource center will be 
a cure-all, I do believe it is a step in the right direction.  The motto 
... is 'it could happen to you.'  Nine months ago, I certainly didn't 
believe this could happen to me."

Monarch High School on the Louisville-Superior border has been hit over the 
last few months with numerous drug-related arrests.  A student there 
recently committed suicide, reportedly after being punished for an 
alcohol-related offense.
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MAP posted-by: GD