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Craig meth prevention group considering future

Ben McCanna

If you go

What: Communities Overcoming Meth Abuse meeting

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today

Where: Moffat County Public Safety Center, 800 W. First St.

— The meeting is open to the public.

If you go

What: Communities Overcoming Meth Abuse meeting

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today

Where: Moffat County Public Safety Center, 800 W. First St.



— The meeting is open to the public.

Communities Overcoming Meth Abuse, a local organization designed to eradicate methamphetamine use, faces an uncertain future, member Tom Cramer said.



“Maybe we’ll decide to call it a day,” he said.

COMA members will meet to discuss the future of the organization from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at the Moffat County Public Safety Center, 800 W. First St.

The meeting is open to the public.

Cramer said the group’s public support has been dwindling.

“Because of a lack of community help, we might be disbanding,” he said.

Tom’s wife, Jessie Cramer, said it has been difficult to find volunteers for the organization.

“So few of us are doing so much work,” she said.

Moffat County Sheriff Tim Jantz agreed that new volunteers are scarce.

“It’s tough,” Jantz said. “People’s time nowadays is drawn in multiple directions. Everybody’s busy, not only with family and work, but with other volunteer organizations.”

COMA board chairman Joel Sheridan said the idea of dissolution first arose during a September COMA board meeting.

“We discussed the fact that maybe we’ve accomplished as much as we can,” Sheridan said.

Jantz said the group’s education efforts have saturated the community.

“We’re no longer being invited to speak,” he said. “It seems we’ve filled the need.”

COMA’s future will be discussed during two separate meetings. The first meeting is today, and a second will take place in December.

“We need to establish what we want to do,” Sheridan said of the Wednesday meeting.

Cramer said the group has made an impact in the community, but the need for COMA remains.

“The meth problem has not gone away,” he said.

On the other hand, other meth-awareness campaigns and resources have sprung up since COMA formed in 2003.

Jessie Cramer cited the drug education that student resource officers are doing in Moffat County schools.

“Since there are other people in the community that are taking over, there isn’t necessarily a big need for COMA to step in,” she said.

Jantz agreed that other resources exist and may be better equipped than COMA to deal with the meth challenge.

“We can’t expand any further,” he said. “We can’t get into the rehab aspect because we don’t have that kind of funding. There are other entities that can do that, but we cannot.”

As to the potential break up of COMA, Jantz said he was unsure.

“It’s open to discussion,” he said. “We may have members who are absolutely adamant about it closing down or staying open.”

Tom Cramer said he hopes the community weighs in at today’s meeting.

“We would love to have public input,” he said. “We would love it.”


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