More than four (4) times as many people died from drug overdose (OD) than from homicide in the first month of 2021…
— National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics
Pagosa Springs Police Chief William Rockensock’s had his office lights turned off; the computer screen was providing the primary illumination, assisted by the window that looked out over the San Juan River wetlands. I commented on the relative darkness, and the Chief admitted he’s bothered by overhead fluorescent lights, so he keeps them turned off whenever possible.
I’d set up an appointment, to talk with him about ‘recreational drugs’ in Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County.
Marijuana, for one.
Also methamphetamines… and heroin… and fentanyl.
My concerns had been generated by a proposal made to the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners last Tuesday, by three County staff members. Basically, the proposal stated that, according to the available evidence, we have a sizable number of illegal marijuana cultivation operations within the unincorporated county, and that the paperwork and legwork involved in identifying and, ultimately, shutting down those operations is expensive and time-consuming.
And because Americans have a constitutional right to privacy, and because Coloradans have a constitutional right to cultivate marijuana, and because we have a limited number of deputies working under the County Sheriff… for all those reasons, we might never be able to solve the problem of black-market cannabis. Unless we think outside the box?
As many of our readers know, marijuana grows like a weed. A very valuable weed.
Marijuana is inordinately expensive for a number of reasons, including regulations and taxes and fees that serve to limit the amount of legal marijuana available. In most any commercial marketplace, when supply is kept artificially low, and demand is high, the seller will charge top dollar.
The marijuana market has suffered from oppressive government control for the past 80 years, and as a result, costs much more than almost any other easy-to-grow agricultural product… even now that it’s finally become legal to grow it, use it, and sell it, in Pagosa Springs.
Chief Rockensock shared his perspective on marijuana — a perspective that’s undergone a change, he said, since recreational marijuana became legally available in Colorado, starting in about 2014.
“You probably remember, I was pretty much against legalization, initially — because of things we had seen in the past. What we had seen in the past were a lot of other crimes that were perpetrated because of it; because it was illegal, and therefore it caused assaults and robberies, and ongoing things like that. So there were crimes associated with black-market marijuana. As a direct result of it being illegal.
“My thought on it has changed a bit. It wasn’t until about the last four or five years — I actually didn’t realize how many people partake in marijuana, or THC products. I’ve come to find out a lot of people I know, routinely partake of it. Which is something that was interesting to me.
“It was hidden for so long.
“My biggest problem with it right now — and I have no problem with adults using it in a reasonable way — but our biggest issue, in town, is that it’s coming into the schools.” Marijuana use has been identified even among Pagosa Springs Middle School students, he told me.
“What we used to see is alcohol coming into the schools. And those parties, and that kind of thing. We don’t see that any more. It’s primarily marijuana coming into the schools now. It’s easier for juveniles to get — than even cigarettes, to be honest with you. So that’s the biggest problem I have. We’ve already had quite a few cases this year, of marijuana ending up in our school system. That’s not okay with me.”
He noted that the Pagosa Police Department hasn’t had to deal with large illegal ‘grow’ operations within the town limits, the same way the County Sheriff has been seeing them in more rural parts of the community.
“We do see some small ‘grows’ within the town — for personal use, which is completely legal. And so be it. That doesn’t concern me at all.”
His department occasionally issues citations for ‘public use’ in the parks, but that’s about the limit of the enforcement problems. Within the town limits.
He mentioned that the prosecution of marijuana violations “doesn’t seem to be a priority with the District Attorney… we’re just not seeing where the DA is open to prosecuting, because — well, [marijuana use] is a constitutional right in the state of Colorado…” The Chief said he doesn’t see marijuana enforcement as a priority in Pagosa, unless it is something on a large scale, or when it has implications of other types of criminal activity.
“As far as the other types of drugs. We’re at the point where we have the same problems as the rest of the state, and the rest of the country. We’re now seeing fentanyl come in. We’re seeing less methamphetamine, which we used to see, and we’re seeing more… we used to see Oxycontin, and the prescription drugs. Now we’re seeing more heroin and fentanyl. Not on a large scale, but we know it’s here.
“And that’s my main concern now. If I were going to put all my eggs in a basket, that’s where they would have to go, because that is a very dangerous drug. It’s killing a lot of people, and wrecking a lot of lives. And to me, that should be a very large priority for our community.”
I’ve heard of the drug, “fentanyl”, a few times, in passing. I don’t typically follow the national news, but I had heard that the recording artist Prince died of a fentanyl overdose. The available news reports concerning his death are confusing. Some claim that the overdose was accidental; that Prince thought he was taking the opioid-based pain-reliever Vicodin, but the pills were ‘fake’ and were actually laced with fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that’s 80-100 times stronger than morphine.
Other news reports suggest that Price was addicted to fentanyl.
Fentanyl was also cited in the death of songwriter Tom Petty… and numerous other celebrities.
Chief Rockensock noted that we’ve seen fentanyl overdoses here in Archuleta County. This, I did not know.