Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jun 2005 Source: Colorado Daily (UC Edu, CO) Copyright: 2005 Colorado Daily Contact: http://www.coloradodaily.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1557 Author: Katy Ibsen, Colorado Daily Staff Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) 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 "Market forces aren't repealed by the fact that something is outlawed; it changes the nature of the market," said Danish.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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth