In 2005, a Community Summit was held in order to educate leaders in Mesa County about methamphetamine (meth) and its impact on the community. Many local leaders were driven to make changes that would influence this impact. That same year the Mesa County Commissioners officially commissioned the Mesa County Meth Task Force. This dedicated group collected data, developed a white paper and from that information developed a strategic plan.
The Mesa County Meth Task Force (MTF), with the fiscal agent of Mesa County Partners, Inc. has been in existence since 2005 with the primary mission to implement the best practices of prevention, law enforcement and treatment leading to maximal reductions of meth addiction, and its resultant destructive consequences. A number of key stakeholders have been instrumental in the creation and sustainability of the task force. They include Build A Generation, City of Grand Junction, Grand Junction Police Department, Colorado West Regional Mental Health, Drug Enforcement Administration, Western Colorado Drug Task Force and other local law enforcement, Grand Junction Housing Authority, Grand Mesa Youth Services Center, Hilltop Community Resources, Mesa County, Mesa County Criminal Justice Services, Mesa County Department of Human Services, District Attorney's Office, the Mesa County Health Department, Mesa State College, Partners, Probation, School District # 51, and St. Mary's Hospital. These partners provide funding and expertise to rid our county of meth.
The Meth Task Force has many accomplishments including:
- Implementation of the “Street Crimes Units” within the Sheriff’s Department and the Grand Junction Police Department has effectively made meth difficult to sell and produce. Recent statistics indicate that crime is down, but felony drug charges have increased.
- Identification and training of Lions Quest, a prevention curriculum. More than 60 people have been trained to use this tool with youth in the Grand Valley. Other prevention efforts have also been developed using this curriculum.
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was signed in November 2006 between law enforcement and human services. This MOU develops a plan for ensuring better communication between these agencies to insure that children in meth environments are identified and protected.
- Creation and distribution of 100 "foster parent tool kits." These tool kits provide information for open communication between the foster parent and children and fun and educational interaction including life skills lessons. The foster parent tool kits also are a base for developing more tool kits in the future for teachers, biological parents, and many others.
- Mesa County opened a 48-bed inpatient meth treatment facility in June 2007 as part of their alternative sentencing facility.
- 2009 Accomplishments
Geographic location and Impact
Mesa County includes Grand Junction, the largest urban center between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah. Over the past ten years, Mesa County has had significant growth in population, challenging the community infrastructures. Mesa County transitioned from rural to urban after surpassing 100,000 in population. In 2007, that population reached 143,000 countywide.
Generally a Caucasian community, the largest minority group is Hispanic or Latino origin (12 percent). For the 8 percent who speak a language other than English, Spanish is the primary language spoken.
While the energy industry has continued to grow and diversify in Mesa County over the past years, oil and gas extraction, mining and construction have re-emerged as strong industry sectors in recent years. This growth has caused an influx of people living and working in Mesa County.