Addiction Treatment Denver, CO

Finding Help for Alcohol and Drugs in the Mile High City

Every year, thousands of people decide to find addiction treatment Denver, CO, making it a top destination for seeking substance abuse treatment. This decision is based on a handful of reasons – travelers captivated by the natural beauty of Colorado prefer the scenery because of the mindset it promotes.

Alternatively, word of specific treatment options in the area could be an attractive option. It’s also possible for someone to have a network of support in Denver with plans of making a move permanent after treatment concludes.

Regardless of your motives personally, significant benefits exist to making Denver a long-term residency for someone exiting rehab. This article highlights these advantages and outlines other pertinent information regarding Denver’s substance abuse and recovery environment.

Denver’s Substance Abuse Challenges

Denver is no stranger to making headlines in substance abuse and other drug-related publicity. Most people are aware of the city’s love affair with marijuana, and Denver is becoming one of the biggest cities for high-grade marijuana production and retail sale.

The Mile High City was the epicenter of Colorado becoming the first state to legalize recreational marijuana use and was among a handful of states in the late 1990s to welcome a medical marijuana program. Since then, Denver has attracted people from all walks of life on recreational pilgrimages to get a glimpse of what legalized drug use looks like.

Unfortunately, the open-arms stance on marijuana welcomed another host of problems – these of a more sinister variety. The free-spirited atmosphere triggered an influx of new residents to the city with not much else in the way of motivations other than to partake in the high life.

 

The Demographics of Addiction in Denver

Like northern California, thousands of wandering nomads flock to Denver and surrounding areas looking to pick up work during the outdoor marijuana harvesting season. Many of these individuals are young with little to no life experience or contingency plan, end up with a less than desirable supporting cast around them, and often end up with a substance abuse issue.

With thousands left homeless, alone, and shouldering the weight of a methamphetamine or heroin addiction (sometimes both), many have no other choice but to turn to petty theft and other crimes to support their habits. This makes Denver a rarity because four primary substances power the city’s substance abuse issues at full steam instead of the typical city, with one or two significant substance abuse challenges.

Not only is Denver famous for its marijuana, but it also boasts a stout lineup of microbreweries, along with housing the Coors headquarters. Topping it off is an active downtown area with a significant bar and nightclub scene.

History and Backstory of Hard Drugs in Denver

Many assume heroin and methamphetamine are the newcomers in a city steeped in pot and alcohol use. However, you’d have to travel beyond the first significant marijuana era in the 1990s to the early to mid-80s, where an opioid network still in full swing today was first discovered.

Methamphetamine has been a constant in Denver since the late 70s and early 80s, and the city has had its share of heroin addicts using the powdered version of the drug from first Asia and later Colombia. These substances make inroads thanks to the larger, more powerful Mexican drug cartels of the Sinaloa and Juarez area.

However, Denver law enforcement took notice of a different type of heroin popping up around the city, known as black tar. Instead of huge, wealthy cartel groups controlling this drug trade, it was small, four and five-person cells from small villages in Jalisco.

Cartel Activity and Heroin Addiction in Denver

These were tiny, home-grown groups headed by a farmer who stayed back in Jalisco, sending a group leader to run the business with a constant flow of young Mexican farm laborers to make deliveries. They used a stringent phone delivery system and only sold the drugs in small quantities and never in large, wholesale amounts.

Instead of muscling whole regions of the country, these cells operated in scattered cities across the country along routes. These cells would grow from Denver into Ohio, West Virginia, and eventually, North Carolina and Tennessee, where this trade is still active today.

Because of Denver’s long, storied history with substances of all types, it is a unique place to receive substance abuse treatment. Potential clients have access to various treatment options from traditional to newer, experimental, holistic options.

Furthermore, because of the constant need to extinguish the city’s substance abuse challenges, Denver is often ground zero for new cutting-edge programs and prototypes of new legislation, group recovery models, and different government-funded programs.

Substance Abuse in Denver: In the Headlines

Most recently, Denver’s challenge with substance abuse is driven by the fact that Colorado has the fastest growing number of overdose deaths in the country besides Alaska. Denver’s opioid overdose death rate has risen 350% during the last few years.

This is a staggering, almost hard-to-digest number. However, Denver, CO, is known for being a city to rally back from great hardship, and this situation is no different.

The silver lining in this situation is that new legislation aims to mitigate the problem and bring new safety and treatment options for current individuals struggling and anyone charged with heroin possession. During this new campaign, the city and state are allocating $20 million to distribute fentanyl test strips, Narcan, and other resources aimed at driving users into treatment.

The most proactive segment of these changes includes placing individuals arrested for opioid possession in rehab treatment programs instead of jail. These changes come off the heels of 2020 legislation that imposed stiffer penalties for all distribution levels, especially those with extenuating circumstances.

Dealers found in possession of pill presses or batches of heroin linked to overdose deaths will face more severe consequences.

The Changing Face of Medication-Assisted Treatment in Colorado

Other changes in the Denver, CO, substance abuse world include potential restructuring of the models at methadone treatment centers. Currently, methadone is the only opioid treatment model that requires clients to show up daily to receive their dose, putting a significant strain on clients, especially if they’re driving a substantial distance to and from treatment.

Federal regulations on methadone clinics experienced a loosening of the tight grip the government has had on these programs since the 1960s. It’s no longer mandatory for all clients to show up daily or jump through hoops to receive one take-home dose at a time.

The decision to relax the rules is at the discretion of each clinic across the country, and Denver methadone treatment programs have remained rigid until recently. The hope is that more leverage and increasing advantages continue to grow in availability for clients who participate in this form of treatment.

It’s a good idea to have post-treatment options lined up after graduation. Denver, CO, has made headlines recently for some quality outreach and support programs for users in recovery.

Outreach and Support Programs in the Denver Region

The following programs are available in Denver, CO, for people during substance abuse recovery’s initial phases or post-treatment. The city has multiple resources for these types of programs, and it’s essential to be on a constant hunt for new outlets and support pillars for achieving long-term recovery.

New Life Program

The New Life Program at the Mission Outreach is a wildly successful treatment /rehab option available for young men in the Denver area suffering from substance abuse issues with no place to live. This program targets a demographic that the city has had significant challenges with.

Denver has always had substantial amounts of crime and drug activity attached to it because of the swollen numbers of transient citizens living in homeless camps. The area around the bus depot downtown has been ground zero, where murder and other assaults are almost a daily occurrence.

The New Life Program takes in around 30 participants each time, enrolling them in a year-long program that gets them off drugs and back on their feet. What makes this fantastic program so incredible is its success rate.

86% of the New Life Program graduates end up experiencing success, measured in long-term sobriety, obtaining employment, their places to live, and reconnecting with their families. Denver officials have been attempting to implement similar programs to continue the theme of healing the city from substance abuse and displacement.

STEP Program

Denver has always had a reputation for underserving its citizens regarding mental health services. Mental health services combined with substance abuse were almost a foreign concept in years past.

However, because of the growing challenges associated with the city’s drug challenges, not only has Denver ramped up the mental health/substance abuse connection, but they’re emphasizing the younger generation. The STEP program has made it a point to ramp up services that teenagers and young adults have access to regarding drug abuse and mental health.

Each week the program meets with an average of around 600 of Denver’s most troubled adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18. Since refocusing their efforts, the families of these young people have noticed a significant improvement in areas of concern.

 

The Strengths of the Denver Recovery Community

If you’re moving to Denver, the unemployment rate hovers around the United States average with a steadily rising employment market. The median salary in Denver is well over the national average.

The Senate recently passed new legislation for new programs in Denver offering affordable housing to displaced residents, newcomers, and individuals receiving substance abuse treatment. Some of the best parts of the city to aim for are located in the south and western portions of town.

These areas have a thriving community atmosphere with lower numbers of substance abuse-related crimes.

Crisis Services in the Mile High City

The program Signal recently connected its substance abuse treatment services to multiple mental health organizations throughout the city, offering crisis services and other treatment or prevention options for residents. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive provider for all substance and mental health treatment options in the city, Find Addiction Rehabs is the richest source of information and outreach for Denver residents or travelers.

Reach out Now for Denver Rehab Resources

At FAR, you’ll find stockpiled information on nearly any treatment or recovery program in the city. If you plan on traveling or moving to Denver with treatment in your sights, take advantage of the robust platform provided by the staff at Find Addiction Rehabs to educate yourself on the city and its resources. And reach out any time to our dedicated, compassionate team of representatives on our addiction hotline, our team will provide options and give details on insurances accepted, coverage, and more, often within minutes!

Medically Reviewed By