Task force could snag federal funds

MONTROSE — After a previous disappointment, the regional drug task force could again be looking at additional federal funds.

Matthew McComb, the Highway 50 corridor representative for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar’s office, delivered the news Tuesday, during the Montrose Meth Coalition’s educational workshop.

McComb said the Seventh Judicial Methamphetamine/Drug Task Force is again in line for $100,000 in federal funding from the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008. Under the same appropriation, the Montrose Police Department could receive $200,000 for dispatching services.

The task force had previously been on the list for priority funding under the Meth Hot Spots program, but the necessary CJS bill was not passed.

“We won’t know until the president signs it,” McComb said, but confirmed the bill that would provide new funding is in conference at the House and Senate levels.

Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn said he was hopeful the $200,000 grant, if it came through, could be used to aid the sheriff’s existing regional dispatch center, because the money would not be enough for another center.

“We haven’t seen the grant,” he said. “We don’t know what we can do with it. Our plan is to share it with the sheriff’s office.”

McComb was one of several presenters during the daylong workshop, which also featured information from treatment providers, the probation office, law enforcement and citizens.

He shared federal statistics concerning methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that factors into numerous crimes in the local Seventh Judicial District.

According to McComb’s data, more than 38 percent of law enforcement agencies nationwide report meth as their most significant criminal problem. Federal statistics alone showed 33,000 meth arrests nationwide in 2006 and that meth use has increased between 2 to 3 percent more in Colorado than in many other states.

“What this tells us is the meth epidemic facing us is indeed that — an epidemic,” McComb said.

He detailed federal programs and legislation he said Salazar hopes will aid smaller, rural agencies that are dealing with the meth epidemic.

Colorado received more than $7 million last fiscal year through the Edward Byrne grant — a grant that is the primary source of funding for the local drug task force. McComb acknowledged the task force’s Byrne grant funds have been dwindling over the past years.

Colorado also benefits from the Community Oriented Policing Program grant money and the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant, McComb said.

Money alone will not solve Montrose’s meth problem, presenters said.

Doug Hanshaw of the Midwestern Colorado Mental Health Center detailed changes in treatment strategies. He said that though throwing an addict in jail might keep him or her out of trouble for a while, a “more enlightened approach” was necessary.

Approaches should include consistent consequences, Hanshaw added. “People with drug addictions can be very resourceful,” he said.

Some strategies can backfire — for instance, taking away addicts’ children, when not necessary for the children’s safety, can remove their last anchor to reality.

The drug, Hanshaw said, is demand-driven. “They use it because they want to feel good or they use it because they want to stop feeling bad,” he said, calling for a cultural shift in the way addicts are viewed.

Recovery, not just treatment, is vital — as well as possible, Hanshaw said, disputing the oft-repeated statistic that meth addicts are only able to kick the habit “6 percent” of the time. Depending on the treatment and the individual, the percentage can be as high as 87 percent.

Successful treatment involves helping addicts reconnect to society in a positive way — even something so basic as ensuring they receive proper nutrition can help.

“The good news is, treatment can and does work,” Hanshaw said.

“Our vision is a meth-free Montrose County,” Commissioner Allan Belt, who is also a coalition member, said. “Why would you settle for anything less than perfection?”

Contact Katharhynn Heidelberg via e-mail at Katharhynnh@montrosepress.com