Saturday, February 27, 2010

Boulders' alcohol and drug addiction epidemic "My Life in Boulder"

Dear Internet
Recently, I have done a couple of Jann Scott Live 3 minute video blogs on drugs...... one on marijuana and one on narcotic pain clinics. Basically, my take is that the medical marijuana clinics and pain clinics are ruses for selling drugs of all kinds to anybody who wants them regardless of age. There are no checks or balances. There is just a wide open drug trade supported by local government with no concern by health agencies.
So over the past month I have come under attack by the druggie crowd on Craigslist, twitter and in the general boulder underground. That is par for the course when ever I write or talk about drug addiction.
My colleagues in the addiction recovery field pretty much throw up their hands when it comes to addressing the out of control drug trade and burgeoning addiction in Boulder. My friend Crystal Gray, city council women just laughs at the whole thing...which is telling..because Boulder has long been a haven of the drug culture .....it's like who cares?
I care about the people who get sick; the families who have to endure hardship as a result of the illness. I care about young children who are introduced to drugs by their alcoholic parents or older brothers and sisters. I care about the incidence of domestic violence as a result of alcohol and drug abuse. I care that only 5% of drug addicts or alcoholics actually ever recover. I care that Boulder has no effective treatment for a city with the highest addiction rate in the USA.
I care that the professional community from DOC, courts, mental health, social services, probation, ARC, LE, DA, Boulder Community Hospital and University have never come together with the largest public resource in the city, the 12 step community of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. It could happen so easily too and a lot of lives could be saved at little financial cost. So what's preventing it? A lot of ego.
Just before the Jon Bennet Ramsey case broke in 1995, we had community wide Alcohol Summits which had us well on our way to become a community with a viable solution to the addiction epidemic affecting us all. We were about top become a community in recovery. It started in the DA's office who pulled the parties together and opened a community wide discussion. It never happened.
Today we sell more alcohol and drugs than ever creating more and more little addicts. The number of teenagers living in private drug treatment half way houses in boulder has exploded.

We are in such trouble.
from Americas most addicted small city
Jann Scott
Boulder Colorado

235 days left

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

All drugs should be decriminalized!
Have a good day! ~J