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Drug czar to speak at meth conference
10-08-06 | GJSentinel

The grave dangers of methamphetamine and how communities can combat it will be the subject of a conference this week that will feature a White House deputy drug czar and Attorney General John Suthers.
[News Note: Oh, really? Is that all you will be talking about on your trip?]

The Mesa County Meth Task Force will hold the Regional Meth Conference on Thursday and Friday at the Double Tree Hotel. It will focus on how to gather data, what kind of prevention and treatment programs work and how to find financial support.

At the keynote breakfast Thursday morning, Suthers and Scott Burns, the deputy director of the White House Office of the National Drug Control Policy for state and local affairs, will speak about motivating other communities to form their own task forces similar to the one in Mesa County.

Burns and Suthers also will take the opportunity to hold a separate press conference shortly after their breakfast speeches to talk about their opposition to Amendment 44, which would make it legal for Colorado residents 21 and older to possess one ounce of marijuana. The amendment will be on the ballot in November throughout Colorado.
[News Note: AHA!! I thought as much.]

“Marijuana is the most widely abused illicit drug in the country,” said Heather Janik, spokeswoman for the White House Office of the National Drug Control Policy. “More teens are in treatment for marijuana than all other illicit drugs combined, more than alcohol.”
[News Note: Court appointed???]

Joe Higgins, director of Partners and co-chair of the task force, said having Burns appear at the conference is a sign the federal government is realizing the disastrous effects methamphetamine is having on communities.

“One of the accusations that has been made of the federal government is that they have really not seen the methamphetamine epidemic as a problem because it hasn’t hit inside the beltway in Washington,” Higgins said.

“I really take this personally with the deputy drug czar coming out from Washington, D.C., and saying, “Hey, I want to be a part of what you’re doing out here.’ ”

The conference coordinators are thrilled that Burns will speak at the conference.

“It’s huge to have the recognition from the White House,” said Angie Palmer, coordinator of the Mesa County Meth Task Force. “It’s big. It’s the White House.”

In addition to Suthers and Burns, Nicolas Taylor, a psychologist from Montrose, will speak on debunking the myths of treatment of methamphetamine addictions, Palmer said.

Cathy Robbins, vice president of the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs, which is a co-sponsor of the conference, will encourage communities to come up with a plan to fight methamphetamine.

On the final afternoon of the conference, people will break into groups based on their judicial districts and begin working action plans.

The cost is $60 per person and includes breakfast and lunch both days. The conference is open to anyone.

Preregistration is required and can be done online at: Home - Meth-Free Mesa County, Colorado.

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