We’re listening here to Archuleta County Undersheriff Derek Woodman, making a presentation to the Board of County Commissioners at their December 7 work session. He’s sitting at the conference table next to Development Director Pamela Flowers and Emergency Operations Manager Mike Le Roux, presenting a report (which you can download here) that proposes changes to the County Land Use Regulations, supposedly to make the enforcement of marijuana cultivation somehow easier to manage.
The plans for new regulations, which are still in the conceptual stage, were apparently inspired by the recent search activities by the Sheriff’s Office in rural parts of the county, where approximately 500 marijuana plants were “destroyed” and several arrests were made. Reportedly, the process of investigation and obtaining the search warrants required considerable time and resources.
“So, obviously, we know that state law allows up to six plants per residential property. That can go to twelve plants. And then, on the medical side of the statutory requirements, if the doctor gives a recommendation that the individual needs more than twelve marijuana plants for consumption, on an annual basis, then they can grow 24 plants…
“Our problems are, these grow areas were well in excess of twelve plants. This was marijuana cultivation like many of us had never seen. I mean, the size of these plants were virtually trees. They were eight to ten feet. It was just staggering.
The report provided to the BOCC suggested that the amount of cannabis uncovered by the Sheriff’s staff was well beyond what any individual human being could possibly consume over the course of a year… which indicated that these ‘grows’ were intended for the black market.
The three presenters, on December 7, appeared to have plans to limit, through land use regulations, where and how marijuana can be grown in Archuleta County.
“You take some of our residential areas, on say a quarter acre lot, with is a common lot size in some residential areas, those plants are being grown within 20 feet of the neighbor’s house. In some of the areas [with smaller lots] those plants are up against the neighbor’s house.
“Put yourself on that position. Would you like that at your neighbor’s house? The devaluation of property. The odor that’s taking place.
“So this is a discussion about land use regulations, about where it can be cultivated.”
The County staff is obviously raising some interesting questions.
Among many interesting questions, here in Pagosa Springs. When I was speaking with Pagosa Springs Police Chief William Rockensock last week, we discussed some other aspects of the recreational drug universe. It’s a complicated universe.
I asked the Chief about which drugs are most common in our community, at the moment.
“You know, it’s really odd. It’s like anything else — and I hate to put it this ways, but — when people who are addicted can’t get one type of drug, they search out another. They tend to use whatever they can get their hands on. So certain drugs fluctuate. When they can’t get meth, they use heroin. When they can’t get heroin, they use Oxycontin or meth.
“So we see that fluctuation of what’s available at any given time. What’s coming through, or what’s being sold. Especially in the Four Corners. We recently saw — had a case of ‘black tar’ heroin. From Mexico. I hadn’t seen that, in this community, for years.
“But now, it seems to be fentanyl. Because it’s easier to get, at the moment. There seems to be a larger supply available.”
The Chief noted that a drug dealer typically sells a range of drugs — whatever the supply chain is providing.
“It’s ongoing. You figure out who the players are, but then the players change… The amount of drugs we have in this community, in any community, fluctuates. It’s an ongoing enforcement issue that we play, all the time.”
Enforcement is one piece of the puzzle. Deaths due to drug use are another piece.
The past couple of years have been especially challenging. From a December 10 KDVR article by DJ Summers:
The pandemic-era rise in Colorado’s drug overdoses has only continued in 2021.
Colorado’s drug overdose rate spiked 50% from May 2019 to May 2021, trending directly with a nationwide increase. Driven by the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment projects 1,838 this year — the highest total ever, up from 1,477 last year. The amount of fentanyl-related overdoses has also shot up, from 540 last year to a projected 857 in 2021.
The nationwide flood of the cheaply-produced pain medication means fentanyl-related overdoses now make up half of the state’s drug-related deaths.
Colorado’s fentanyl-related overdoses rose eightfold in just 3 years. In 2018, less than 10% of Colorado’s drug overdoses involved fentanyl. This year, however, nearly half, or 48%, have involved the drug.
According to the map featured in that KDVR article, we appear to have had 19 ‘provisional’ overdose deaths in Archuleta County this year. That can be compared to 8 COVID deaths over the past two years. [EDITOR’S NOTE: On further investigation, this KDVR number appears to be greatly inflated. The number of overdose deaths in Archuleta County is probably fewer than four.]
Here’s a chart showing drug overdose deaths in Washington State. As we can see, the deaths from prescription opioids seems to be dropping slightly, while heroin and especially fentanyl deaths are increasing.
Chief Rockensock:
“There is no easy way to work narcotics except to have somebody working them all the time. And it can be a long, tedious process…”
The Town of Pagosa Springs no longer has a dedicated narcotics investigator. Archuleta County no longer has a dedicated narcotics investigator.
Is that a problem?
Maybe, a bigger problem than people growing marijuana in their back yards?
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.