Though La Plata County trails behind the state in many important measures of collective well-being such as median income, we’re blazing ahead of the rest of Colorado in other areas.
A new report from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that in Region 9 – which includes Dolores, San Juan, Montezuma and La Plata counties – 14.2 percent of adults (18 and older) surveyed in 2014 reported using marijuana in the previous 30 days, slightly more than the statewide average of 13.6 percent.
La Plata is by far the most populous county in Region 9.
Still, La Plata County hasn’t quite reached the highs of Boulder, where 18.9 percent of adults surveyed in 2014 reported “current use” of marijuana.
Merely 1.4 percent of residents surveyed in Region 5 – which consists of Sedgewick, Phillips, Logan, Morgan, Washington and Yuma counties – reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, the lowest rate in the state.
The data – which was culled after pot-related questions were added to the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey for the first time – offers a new statistical snapshot of Coloradans’ cannabis consumption since the state legalized retail marijuana.
In a news release, health department Executive Director Dr. Larry Wolk heralded the survey as a public-health breakthrough.
“This is the beginning of data collection about marijuana use by Coloradans,” said Wolk, who also is the department’s chief medical officer. “Tracking this data over time will help us identify trends that will be useful in planning public-health awareness campaigns about marijuana use.”
Statewide, the survey shows that younger adults (ages 18 to 24) are “more than 10 times more likely” to use marijuana than older adults (ages 65 and older).
Of the Colorado residents who reported using marijuana at least once in the previous 30 days, one-third reported using marijuana daily, and almost one-fifth – 18.8 percent – reported driving after using.
While youths were more disposed to marijuana, so were gay, lesbian and bisexual adults.
The survey shows that in Colorado, the demographics of marijuana use are further nuanced by race: “The percentage of adults who have ever used marijuana is much lower among Hispanics, compared with white or black adults,” according to the news release.
But when it comes to the intersection of marijuana use and social class, the picture becomes hazier: The survey demonstrates that adults with higher incomes reported using marijuana at some point in their lives at much higher rates than their poorer peers, but individuals from lower-income households were much more likely to report “current use,” meaning using marijuana in the previous 30 days.
A different study suggests Coloradans as a whole use marijuana at a higher rate than their fellow Americans.
Nationally, 7.4 percent of U.S. adults used marijuana in a 30-day time span, according to the 2013 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
That survey found that states with legal retail marijuana had a higher percentage of use than the rest of the country; reports of current use in those states ranged from 12.1 percent as a low to Colorado’s 12.9 percent as the high.
cmcallister@ durangoherald.com