Durango School District 9-R hosted a “Kids Are Worth It” presentation this week as parents and students were encouraged to join in discussion about substance use with teens.
Heading the presentation was guest speaker Barbara Coloroso along with Lt. Joey LaVenture with the Southwest Drug Task Force and members of Axis Health System. Coloroso is known as a bestselling author and consultant on parenting, discipline and nonviolent conflict resolution.
The event opened with LaVenture discussing the growing influx of narcotics in Southwest Colorado. He said the most popular drugs in the area are methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl and that people need to be cautious about counterfeit drugs.
LaVenture said fentanyl is being made to appear like other drugs, such as oxycodone or cocaine.
“We’re seeing people snorting lines of what they thought was coke and ending up with a couple 100 milligrams of fentanyl in their system. It takes about 2 to 3 milligrams of fentanyl to kill you,” he said.
LaVenture also explained that cocaine has seen a massive increase in popularity over the last couple of years, creating cause for concern when it comes to laced narcotics. However, heroin numbers have decreased immensely, in part because of the cheaper cost and accessibility of fentanyl.
“It’s easy to get and super addictive, so people want that drug more. Price is one of the reasons,” he said. “Getting a kilo of fentanyl in the area is really easy compared to a kilo of meth or heroin because it is a more condensed package,”
LaVenture later clarified how in the current market a gram of heroin is around $70 compared with fentanyl, which is $6 a pill with a more potent high. He warned parents to be on the lookout for tinfoil with black marks as tinfoil is often used to smoke fentanyl.
The usage of naloxone (commonly referred to as Narcan), a medicine that rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose was also brought up. LaVenture advised those who have substance users in their family to carry naloxone. The medicine was offered to those who wanted it at the presentation.
“This drug saves lives. Our patrol officers deploy this on the street all of the time,” he said. “The sooner you administer Narcan, the better chance of survival these people have.”
LaVenture also made a point of advising users to get to the hospital immediately after taking naloxone because the drug lasts only between 30 and 90 minutes and the user could still overdose once it wears off.
Dr. William Finn with San Juan Basin Public Health presented a survey taken by high school students about drug usage. According to the survey done by the Colorado Department of Health, 14% of students in Region 9, which includes La Plata, Dolores Montezuma and San Juan counties, have taken a drug without a doctor’s prescription.
Dagny Lowdowski and Brooke Coffey with Axis Health System presented information about the psychological effects substance use can have on the teen mind. Lowdowski is a child therapist and Coffey is an addiction counselor for Axis.
Lowdowski explained how substance use can lead to mental health symptoms such as depression, anxiety and psychotic traits. She added that one can obtain these symptoms from one drug high but even after the drug wears off it can have more permanent effects.
Lowdowski said many students who struggle with mental health will use substances as a coping mechanism.
Coffey broke down the difference between recreational substance use and substance dependency and when to be concerned about addiction. She contends that a cause for concern is when usage causes a drastic change in mood.
“There’s a part of that experimental use in teenagers that is so normal and natural. They are curious and influenced by their peers,” Coffey said. “And what is scary now, are these drugs where one or two uses could be really dangerous. That’s where having Narcan around is really beneficial.”
After the speakers finished, Coloroso started her discourse about how parents can be involved with their kids lives while making them think on a more independent basis. She said the family dynamic is crucial to creating an environment of growth among kids.
“You have a kid addicted to drugs. That is not a problem to solve. That’s a reality and now you solve the problems that come with it.” she said. ”And we have to begin to think about it in a way that there’s no problem too great to be solved. That means children get six critical life messages a day: I believe in you.”
She said problems facing teenagers are an issue of understanding what’s going on in their life. In any situation, she advises parents to use the phrase: “tell me about it.”
Coloroso finds that kids will not open up unless parents truly engage in sharing with them. She uses a child being asked about his or her day as an example.
“When they just tell you its fine, this is not fine and don’t ask a lot of questions. The expression is, ‘Talk to me about it, tell me about it,’” Coloroso said.
Colorado experienced more than 1,300 total drug poisoning deaths in 2021 and over 1,400 in 2020. From 2019 to 2020, the number of fentanyl-related deaths increased from 222 to 540.
“In this community, a lot of people don’t want to believe this is a problem. ... Don’t lie about it. It’s here and we need to talk about this,” LaVenture said.
Durango School District 9-R looks to have Coloroso back in the fall to discuss bullying with parents and students.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
