Grand Junction Meth Task Force

The first meth addict Dr. Mike Gizzi interviewed for his study on meth use started taking meth to save money.

The 36-year-old man “graduated” from alcohol to cocaine, found that habit was too expensive, and switched to meth at the prompting of his brother. The man was 15 at the time, Gizzi said.

Gizzi’s first subject turned out to be a common example of meth addicts that go to jail, Gizzi said Thursday at a Mesa County meth task force meeting.

Gizzi, a Mesa State criminal justice and political science professor, found in his research for the Western Colorado Methamphetamine Research Center that the majority of Mesa County’s incarcerated current or former meth users are Caucasian, male, about 30 years old and dropped out of school or have a high school diploma at best.

Gizzi and a crew of 10 Mesa State College students are compiling information about jailed meth users by interviewing inmates and checking court records for mentions of meth in Mesa, Garfield, Delta, Montrose and soon, Moffat counties. The study’s Mesa County information focused on interviews and court records from 2003 and 2006.

The group is also rifling through probation files and records for the 195 criminal justice clients that tested positive for amphetamine in urine tests from 2004-2006.

Of the 195, only 66 were convicted for drugs. The other 129 were sentenced for a variety of crimes, including theft, traffic offenses, child abuse, sexual assault, weapons, robbery and fraud charges, to name a few. Property crimes like theft and robbery are common, Gizzi said, because addicts are trying to monetarily support their habit through stealing.

Probation studies show meth is the drug of choice for probationers, with 24 percent preferring meth. Fifteen percent prefer marijuana, 14 percent choose alcohol, and 1 percent each go for cocaine or heroin and opiates.

GJ Free Press