
The Mile-High State has more than Rocky Mountain highs these days. Its drug problem is widespread and growing. It ranks among the top 10 states in America for low perceived risk of using marijuana and alcohol, coupled with, naturally, some of the highest rates of abuse of these substances.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues At-A-Glance, Colorado
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), December 2008
Such “what can it hurt” attitudes are echoed by admissions trends for Colorado drug and alcohol treatment centers. An astonishing 74% of all admissions listed alcohol as a factor, contrary to a nationwide trend downward in alcohol admissions. The rate of alcohol abuse in Colorado is nearly twice the national average.

Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse
State of Colorado Profile of Drug Indicators
June 2008
Colorado has a correspondingly high number of drug and alcohol treatment centers to combat the problem. In 2006, the most recent year for data, there were 443 drug and alcohol rehab facilities in Colorado. Colorado residents will likely find at least one in their local community or within a reasonable drive, but they should not assume that all provide the same services, or can address their particular addiction. An alcohol recovery center in Colorado will likely be easier to find than a Colorado drug treatment center offering a program for opiate addiction, such as to heroin or the growing number of opiate-based prescription drugs being abused in the state like Oxycontin or Percocet. In 2006 only 11 facilities offered an opioid treatment program; just 18 programs and 104 doctors in the whole state were certified to use the controlled medication buprenorphine to treat opiate problems.
Treatment modalities vary, from outpatient care, by far the most common, to residential programs and inpatient care. Some 94% of all Colorado treatment centers offer outpatient services, but the proper treatment regimen must be determined through medical evaluation to assess the level and type of addiction and the physical and emotional damage it has caused. Some patients benefit most from residential programs that attend to the physical side effects of addiction and allow addicts time to regroup in a setting removed from daily stresses.
Colorado law enforcement reports that cocaine is still the primary drug threat, especially in the Denver area. Once again, perception plays into use, with crack cocaine fading and powder cocaine considered “fairly safe as a recreational drug,” per Patterns and Trends in Drug Abuse in Denver and Colorado: January–December 2007 by Bruce Mendelson, MPA. Colorado drug treatment centers report that prescription drugs are equally easy to get. Increasingly, Valium, Xanax, Ativan, and other benzodiazepines are found at parties and stolen or diverted from pharmacies to the street. Such drugs form a whole new class of addiction treatment in Colorado and nationwide: “opiates other than heroin.”
Parents should take note that their children run an increasing risk of one day needing the services of a drug and alcohol treatment facility. In Colorado, rates of drug abuse among teens run at or higher the corresponding rates for adults.

For children and adults alike, the best way to beat a substance abuse problem is early identification and proper treatment through a qualified drug and alcohol treatment center in Colorado or somewhere else. That means comprehensive counseling, detoxification, and behavior modification, no matter what the addiction. Families should not settle for less.