Denver pot advocate shot and killed in his home

CBS4) DENVER A Denver man well-known in Colorado's medical marijuana community was shot and killed Saturday night after his house was broken into.

Ken Gorman, an outspoken advocate for legalizing marijuana, grew pot in his home on the 1,000 block of South Decatur Street, and allowed reporters to film the plants.

Denver police said they are investigating the shooting, but were releasing few details Sunday afternoon. Family members told CBS4 Gorman was the victim in the crime. More.

Mom sues frat, college over boy's alcohol death

Boulder, CO: The mother of Gordy Bailey (photo), a Colorado University freshman who died of alcohol poisoning at a fraternity initiation in 2004, is suing the fraternity and the university for negligence and reckless misconduct.

A superior court judge has ruled that the lawsuit can go ahead and has set a March 2008 trial date. Source.

A coroner revealed that after Bailey had passed out, his fraternity brothers marked up his arms, legs and trunk with racial and sexual slurs, said the young man's father, Lynn Gordon Bailey.

"This reinforces the nearly unbearable pain of the whole thing," Bailey said. "Was he dying while they were writing that?"

When it became apparent that the 18-year-old was not breathing, and police were going to be called in to investigate, someone tried to wipe off the slurs that were written on his face with a felt-tip marker, police said. Source.

Bailey's death has similarities to the fate of Phanta "Jack" Phoumarrath at the University of Texas, Austin. Link.

Colorado lecturer dies drunk in snow

A University of Northern Colorado sociology lecturer who was found dead in a snow bank at the Foothills Unitarian Church in Fort Collins died of hypothermia due to acute alcohol intoxication, the Larimer County Coroner’s Office ruled today.

She was reported missing on Jan. 2 by her husband after having last been seen New Year’s Eve.

Four children playing at the church before services almost a month later saw her body partially covered by snow. They called a parent, who notified police.

Family members said Wilkins-Wells was believed to have been headed to church the day she went missing. The family belongs to Foothills Unitarian, which is about two miles from their home.

Wilkins-Wells had been a sociology lecturer at UNC since August 1992, specializing in minority relations and community planning.

Katie Wilkins-Wells said that her mother had started having problems with alcoholism two years ago and had joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Source.

Colorado: New law lets buyers, tenants test premises for meth

A new law went into effect Jan. 1 in Colorado that lets home buyers and tenants test the premises for evidence of having been used as a meth lab. Details.

Baby in hospital with high alcohol level

Colorado Springs, CO: A two-month old baby was admitted to Memorial Hospital here with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.364, more than four times the legal limit for adult motorists. The hospital withheld news of the baby's condition, and details of how the alcohol got into the infant's system were lacking. Police have so far filed no charges.

Judge on DUI bench drove drunk himself

A Denver County court judge who hands down rulings on drunken driving cases has now been cited for drunken driving himself.Judge Johnny Barajas admits to driving while drunk and is taking full responsibility for what he calls very poor and irresponsible choices. Source.

He didn't inhale

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- Less than 24 hours after being fired from the mega-church he founded, evangelical Pastor Ted Haggard confessed to a "lifelong" sexual problem.

In a letter read to members of his New Life Church Sunday, Haggard admitted he is "a deceiver and a liar."

Haggard admitted that he had bought methamphetamine, but said he did not use the drug and threw it away.

A former male prostitute, Mike Jones, went public with charges last week that Haggard paid him for sex about once a month for three years until this past August, and that Haggard frequently used methamphetamine during the sessions. Source.

Haggard, with his chiseled features, wide smile and five children, had been a poster boy for the evangelical movement and social conservative causes that have been embraced by the Republican Party. Here's a video from You-tube: UK prof. Richard Dawkins interviewing Haggard.

Counselor Busted on Bribery Charges

Addiction counselors are among the most poorly compensated of all professionals. No surprise, then, to read about the indictment of Timothy J. Smith of Arapahoe County (Denver), a top level counselor, for allegedly taking bribes from clients to supply them with fake DUI class completion paperwork. In one case, says the indictment, Smith accepted payment in the form of marijuana. Source. The surprise is that there aren't more cases like this, given the overworked and underpaid status of the addiction counselor.

College Recovery Speaker Available

I wish she'd been around when I was in college:

Dr. Kitty Harris is available to speak to issues involving college student substance abuse and recovery.

Harris is director of Texas Tech University’s Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery (CSAR), the largest and one of the oldest college recovery communities in the nation.

Texas Tech’s nationally recognized program currently serves recovering students from 20 different states. CSAR offers recovery and educational assistance to students in recovery from alcohol and drug addictions and to students in recovery from eating disorders.

Now preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the center has grown to nearly 100 students and has utilized federal grants to develop a curriculum for creating recovery communities on other college campuses. Harris has overseen or advised on the development of recovery communities at schools such as the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Texas and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Contact: Kitty Harris, director, Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery, Texas Tech University, (806) 742-2891, or kitty.harris@ttu.edu.

Thanks for this info, Don Phillips. More here.

See also, College is a Slippery Place, in this blog