"- Prof. Jonez©"
2005-06-17 17:17:25 UTC
County No. 2 in nation for pot smoking
Alcohol use also high in area
By Elizabeth Mattern Clark, Camera Staff Writer
June 17, 2005
Gift shops here display marijuana cookbooks authored by S.T. Oner, and pizza
comes from places called "Fatty J's" and "Baked in Boulder."
Suspected pot plants have been known to crop up among the Pearl Street tulips.
Thousands gather for a giant annual smokeout at the University of Colorado.
But the Boulder area's reputation as a pot-smoker's haven reached a new high
Thursday, when a federal study placed the county behind only Boston in
per-capita marijuana use.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report said 10
percent of Boulder County respondents 12 and older used marijuana in the month
prior to national surveys, conducted from 1999 to 2001.
That's twice the national average.
"I don't think that's shocking," said Sumner Kraegel, a clerk at Boulder's
Peppercorn, where the marijuana cookbook is a best seller. "It doesn't bother me
at all."
The highest rate was 12 percent, in Boston. The lowest was 2 percent, in
northwestern Iowa.
Boulder County had the smallest percentage of people who perceived great risk in
smoking marijuana once a month. Nearly three-quarters of respondents reported
they did not see great risk.
Boulder County also rated second in the nation, behind a section of Washington,
D.C., for alcohol use. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported drinking
alcohol in the month prior to the surveys, compared to a national average of 47
percent.
The county was above average but not in the top 30 of the 331 areas for binge
drinking, defined as five or more drinks in one sitting.
The area was near the top in annual cocaine use, but the numbers were small, at
about 3 percent.
Cigarette use was about average here.
The results were more estimates than rankings and intended to help the
government focus substance-abuse prevention strategies, according to the report.
Chuck Stout, director of Boulder County Public Health, said he wasn't surprised
at the findings.
"We have already identified for a decade in Boulder County that substance abuse
is one of our most significant and troubling public health problems," he said.
"We sometimes take it with a little bit of whimsy when a report comes out in
June 2005 telling us about something that happened four and five and six years
ago."
Alcohol use also high in area
By Elizabeth Mattern Clark, Camera Staff Writer
June 17, 2005
Gift shops here display marijuana cookbooks authored by S.T. Oner, and pizza
comes from places called "Fatty J's" and "Baked in Boulder."
Suspected pot plants have been known to crop up among the Pearl Street tulips.
Thousands gather for a giant annual smokeout at the University of Colorado.
But the Boulder area's reputation as a pot-smoker's haven reached a new high
Thursday, when a federal study placed the county behind only Boston in
per-capita marijuana use.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report said 10
percent of Boulder County respondents 12 and older used marijuana in the month
prior to national surveys, conducted from 1999 to 2001.
That's twice the national average.
"I don't think that's shocking," said Sumner Kraegel, a clerk at Boulder's
Peppercorn, where the marijuana cookbook is a best seller. "It doesn't bother me
at all."
The highest rate was 12 percent, in Boston. The lowest was 2 percent, in
northwestern Iowa.
Boulder County had the smallest percentage of people who perceived great risk in
smoking marijuana once a month. Nearly three-quarters of respondents reported
they did not see great risk.
Boulder County also rated second in the nation, behind a section of Washington,
D.C., for alcohol use. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported drinking
alcohol in the month prior to the surveys, compared to a national average of 47
percent.
The county was above average but not in the top 30 of the 331 areas for binge
drinking, defined as five or more drinks in one sitting.
The area was near the top in annual cocaine use, but the numbers were small, at
about 3 percent.
Cigarette use was about average here.
The results were more estimates than rankings and intended to help the
government focus substance-abuse prevention strategies, according to the report.
Chuck Stout, director of Boulder County Public Health, said he wasn't surprised
at the findings.
"We have already identified for a decade in Boulder County that substance abuse
is one of our most significant and troubling public health problems," he said.
"We sometimes take it with a little bit of whimsy when a report comes out in
June 2005 telling us about something that happened four and five and six years
ago."