ALAMOSA — Colorado State Attorney General Phil Weiser was in the San Luis Valley for several days this week, during which time he met with a host of different people about a myriad of different issues.
But one event he attended was of special significance.
“Seven years ago,” he told the Valley Courier, “I visited the Valley and spoke with (Alamosa County Sheriff) Robert Jackson who told me the Valley desperately needed a treatment center.”
That comment was especially poignant to recall as one of the primary reasons Weiser came to the Valley was to honor the grand opening of Hope in the Valley Rehabilitation Center on July 11, the first rehabilitation treatment facility to ever open its doors in the San Luis Valley.
“We have about 20% of the treatment in the state that we need,” he said. “There are people who are dying while they’re on a waiting list to be treated and others are in jail because we don’t have treatment options for them.
“This crisis demands solutions and what we’re seeing in the Valley with what Kim Reed and Lori Laske and the committee and has accomplished in opening Hope in the Valley is really important. That took real leadership. There are other communities in the state that have the same need as the Valley, but they haven’t done what the Valley has done. That’s why I came here.”
In his comments, Weiser is referring to the facility’s co-founders Kim Reed, her husband, Paul Reed, and Justin Riley. All three are private citizens who each have their own story of recovery, and, in opening Hope in the Valley, they hope to “give back.” Lori Laske is a commissioner for Alamosa County and member of the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council that allocated funds to help pay for the rehabilitation center.
Weiser has been actively involved in legal actions taken against manufacturers and other businesses whose behavior has contributed to the opioid crisis. He also chairs the Opioid Abatement Council.
“We’re in the third wave of this crisis,” Weiser said. “The first wave was Oxycontin pills. Pick your year. By 1999 Purdue had already been seeking to flood the market with Oxycontin pills. We saw people get addicted because they were being given like they were candy. We saw them sold on the streets.
“At some point, around 2010, we started to make it harder to get or distribute opioids. There were pharmacies that had more pills than there were people. It was out of control.
“But by then, the cartel saw they had a market and they started flooding areas with heroin. People were saying, ‘I can’t get pills anymore, but I can get heroin, and it’s cheaper.’ That’s what Robert [Jackson] was dealing with when I spoke to him.’”
The challenge is now fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin and makes it more likely that people will overdose.
“We have more fentanyl than ever before,” he says.
Weiser sees a long road ahead to get out of the crisis with steps that will take committed, concentrated effort.
“We cut down on distribution coming from all sorts of angles. We raise awareness and support people, so they don’t turn to drugs. We help people get treatment – in jail, in emergency room, and in treatment centers – and we help people in recovery.”
The justice system is a small but important part of this, he says.
“If we can’t get people into treatment and recovery, we see this cycle over and over and over again. It’s a problem with public safety. It's also a problem with the workforce.” On one of his visits to the Valley, he recalls being told, “We really can’t talk about the future of econ development because so many people can’t work effectively because they’re struggling with addiction.”
When asked if the problem can be solved, Weiser says he’s an optimist.
“I believe any challenge is solvable, but this is a significant, formidable challenge. What gives me hope is what we’re seeing in the Valley. The leadership that has been involved and the fact that Lori [Laske] has brought in so many people with experience and listened to them and helped them be a part of the solution, that’s incredible. People who can say, ‘My life is now transformed. I’m living in recovery.’”
Weiser also places priority on addressing the stigma of addiction. “We need to bring this conversation into the open now. We can talk about cancer now and people can say “cancer sucks.” We need to be able to do that with addiction. And what I see happening here is meaningful. It gives me hope.”
