Locals Talk About Meeting Jimi Hendrix, Drugs and Skinny Dipping "Welcome to Hip City, USA," read the one-page SURVIVAL handout Silverthorne resident Cheri Breeman saved from the festival. "We're now one of the largest cities in America ... Where we go from here depends on all of us. The people who promoted this festival have been overwhelmed by their own creation. We can no longer remain passive / we have to begin to fend for ourselves." The guidelines asked people to think twice before taking a dip in the lake, which, by default, became the main source of water. It said the Hog Farm would tend to "drug freakouts." It asked people not to be "piggish" about food. And, it warned: "Don't run naked in the hot sun for any period of time (do it in the shade). Water blisters are a bummer." [continues 804 words]
FRISCO - Like any high school, the pattern of drug use runs the gamut at Summit High. "There is almost always some kind of initial experimentation with alcohol and pot," said Kate Glerup, Summit High School counselor. Glerup says there are kids who simply experiment, then choose not to use drugs or alcohol at all. There are kids who randomly drink or smoke marijuana, mostly at parties, and there are kids who smoke on a daily basis. "And then there are kids who progress quickly and clearly have a problem with drugs and alcohol abuse," she said. [continues 527 words]
SUMMIT COUNTY - Colorado used to be as good as any place to easily "doctor shop" to illegally obtain prescription drugs, but that's changing. Currently, a Pharmalert Hotline allows professionals to report fraud and spread the warning throughout the state. But on June 3, Gov. Bill Owens signed a bill ensuring that Colorado will have a prescription drug monitoring program. Every time doctors prescribe medication, the information will go into a database, regulated by the Colorado State Board of Pharmacy. Doctors can access the database whenever they suspect prescription drug abuse. However, the system won't go into effect until October, 2006 at the earliest, said Jody Gingery, director of Colorado Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force. [continues 662 words]
SUMMIT COUNTY - Bob didn't have the usual response to pain killers. He'd stay up for three days straight on Percocet and Vicadin, chatting with women overseas through the internet. He first discovered what he describes as the euphoric effects of pain killers playing college football. After college, he started running and went through six surgeries for pinched nerves in his feet. One doctor would give him two or three refills on Percocet, and when he ran out, he would visit other doctors, using different addresses. [continues 528 words]
DENVER - Lawyers representing Summit County Sheriff John Minor and other county-employed defendants in the civil lawsuit filed by the subjects of a July 2004 meth raid have filed a petition to have the case be heard in federal court in Denver. The petition was filed earlier this week by Boulder-based attorney Josh Marks of the Berg, Hill, Greenleaf and Ruscitti firm, who is representing Summit County Sheriff John Minor, the Board of County Commissioners and the six sheriff's deputies named as defendants in the lawsuit. [continues 361 words]
FRISCO - "If it were not for the financial assistance Colorado West Mental Health has provided to enable me to work with (a counselor), I might not be here to write this letter." Through Colorado West Mental Health's scholarship program, Robert was able to receive treatment and write a letter of thanks to the nonprofit. If Robert (not his real name) had to rely on state and federal funding, he might not have gotten help for depression. State and federal funding helps people receive treatment, but in the last three years, Colorado has reduced its funding of public mental health and substance abuse by 30 percent. [continues 846 words]
FARMER'S CORNER - Summit County teens drink and use more marijuana than the national average, according to a Hobart and William Smith Colleges survey in 2004. And now community members are getting serious about decreasing youth drug and alcohol use. Wednesday, about 40 people met at Summit High School to listen to professionals talk about the impact of drugs on the brain and on learning. Then they broke into small groups to discuss their vision and action plan for a healthy community. [continues 557 words]
FRISCO - A group of concerned citizens armed with a $300,000 grant and a mission to cut underage drinking and illegal drug use in Summit County is ready to get to work on solutions. Since May, about 30 members of the Summit County Drug-Free Community Coalition have met to talk about how to reduce drinking and illegal drug use. Now they're showing progress. "We've been doing a lot of process work, and people sometimes think that's tedious, but (Tuesday) we saw that people are ready to get to work," said Daphne Schroth, director of Summit County human services. "The real meat of our coalition is beginning now," she said. "We have good data and a sense of our needs. Now it's time to get started." [continues 246 words]
SUMMIT COUNTY - Rob M. drank or smoked pot daily from age 13 to 23. He spent the last two years of his drinking in Frisco at bars within walking distance of his apartment. "I came up here to ski and to party," he said. "My vision was to ski first, party second and work third. Instead, it became party first, ski second and work third. I lost a lot of ski days because I'd sit in the Moosejaw or wherever and drink all night, so I couldn't get up to ski. I wanted the skiing to be more important to me, but basically getting drunk was more important." [continues 918 words]
