Welcome to Ozempic town USA: Wealthy mountainous city where everyone's abusing the drugs and private school moms have been turned into 'skeletons'

By MARYANN MARTINEZ, US TEXAS BUREAU CHIEF Published: 18:13, 2 August 2026 | Updated: 18:15, 2 August 2026 On a freezing cold January morning in an affluent suburb called Lone Tree, treacherous snowy walking trails were still busy. Suburban moms in one of Denver's richest enclaves, bundled up in athleisure, jog while pushing strollers - determined to get their steps in despite the bitter cold. Fitness is a way of life in Colorado's capital, even in the depths of winter. The state is consistently ranked among America's healthiest, with less than a quarter of the population considered obese. Skiing, hiking and cycling are part of everyday life. But according to local doctors, med spa owners and residents, being fit is no longer enough. GLP-1 drugs, such as the generic versions of Ozempic and Mounjaro, are flying off the shelves in Denver, with demand so intense that some residents are turning to an underground market to get hold of the injections. Doctors and med spa workers told the Daily Mail that most of the people seeking the slimming shots aren't remotely overweight. One Denver-area mother said the drugs have become so rife among parents at her children's private school that many of the other moms 'look like skeletons.'  Denver ranks among the fittest and healthiest cities  Julie King, the owner of The Firm Med Spa, prepares to give a Botox shot. She also dispenses GLP-1s  'Some of them never needed to lose weight to begin with,' she said, asking to remain anonymous. 'It's to the point where I am nervous some of them are too thin.' For many users, the appeal isn't simply looking slimmer. It's about staying young, staying lean and staying at peak performance. There is some research showing that Ozempic and similar drugs extend lifespans and promote longevity. They also reduce people's cravings for junk food, alcohol and other vices. 'It's not just that they're aging gracefully - they don't want to age at all,' said Dr Edward Cobb, the medical director at The Firm Med Spa in Lone Tree. Supplements and drugs that have been linked to longevity are big business in Denver and the surrounding Mile High City, which has embraced the growing world of biohacking. The term describes the practice of using supplements, therapies and medications to optimize the body's performance and improve health. 'What we see in Colorado, I've got a lot of older patients that are doing 92% as well as they can possibly do,' Cobb said. 'Those patients want to get to 97% or 98% peak fitness. So I think that might be a big difference in Colorado, sometimes people use drugs for reasons of performance enhancement as opposed to treating problems.' Unregulated GLP-1 being sold at a supplement store in Denver that Daily Mail was told were not for human consumption Dr Edward Cobb, the medical director at The Firm Med Spa in Lone Tree, said Denver residents want to beat aging   Rather than taking large amounts of the medication, many of Cobb's patients are 'microdosing,' using half or even a quarter of the lowest available dose of GLP-1s. Microdoses have not been studied extensively but there are anecdotal reports of people feeling less bloated and experiencing a more subtle, slower weight loss. Cobb described many of his patients reporting less joint pain and lower inflammation in their bodies while on the GLP-1s, with Harvard citing recent research that the shots can delay or eliminate the need for knee replacements. But because many of those using the drugs in Denver are not medically obese, they don't qualify for traditional prescriptions or insurance coverage. Instead, they seek out concierge physicians like Cobb, paying out of pocket for personalized treatment plans. 'Denver is very, very focused on aesthetics,' said Julie King, owner of The Firm Med Spa. People often mistake the city's athletic culture for a lack of interest in appearance, King said, but nothing could be further from the truth. Both GLP-1 use and plastic surgery follow the same rules in the state capital. 'What I see is they want to look more natural and subtle,' King added. Despite occupying one of the healthiest cities in one of the healthiest states in nation, these rich, fitness-minded Americans are seemingly desperate to get their hands on GLP-1s Filler in lips and cheeks, breast augmentations and every other enhancement is alive and well, she said, but is not as noticeable in local women as it is in other cities. Women in menopause or in perimenopause have also turned to the injections, King said, revealing that the majority of her GLP-1 customers are women in their 40s and 50s battling hormonal weight gain. All of the people getting GLP-1s from The Firm are under the medical supervision of Dr Cobb.  Despite Colorado's reputation as one of America's healthiest states, prescription data has repeatedly suggested the demand for GLP-1 drugs is unusually high. Figures from 2023 showed Colorado ranked seventh in the nation for active GLP-1 prescriptions, with Denver leading the state's usage. More recent data paints a different picture, with Denver falling outside the nation's top 20 as Houston, New York and Los Angeles surged ahead. But prescriptions don't tell the full story of the popularity of these drugs. Many Denver residents are paying cash for treatment that never appears in insurance data. Others are bypassing doctors altogether. The Daily Mail visited several retail stores in the Denver area that openly sold unapproved GLP-1 products labelled 'not for human consumption.' The Daily Mail observed several retail stores in the Denver area openly selling unregulated and untraceable GLP-1s labeled 'not for human consumption' At one supplement store in Parker, a salesperson told us: 'You're buying research chemicals. These are not for human consumption.' Two weeks' worth of a very low dose of what the store claimed was tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro, cost $211.04. 'That's how we're able to give them out at a much cheaper cost because I'm not a doctor and you can buy these without a prescription,' the storehand said. 'We sell peptides for research purposes, so I don't know what you do with it,' he stated. He also sold us the liquid that had to be mixed in before the powder tirzepatide could be injected, as well as the syringes. Before we left we asked him where the chemicals came from. 'China,' he said. 'Everything comes from China.' Medical professionals strongly warn against obtaining GLP-1 drugs this way. 'I'm just disgusted and horrified. You have no idea where they're coming from. They could be made in a bath tub,' Ashley DeGrush, a nurse practitioner who runs Face Forward Med Spa told Daily Mail. At least two Americans have died after using counterfeit weight-loss injections, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In the US, 28 people have been classified as having had 'serious' outcomes that also include deaths. Ashely DeGrush, a nurse practitioner who runs Face Forward Med Spa Lone Tree is wealthy suburb in Denver  DeGrush said the so-called research GLP-1s come with enormous risks because they are unregulated and are not subject to the testing required of medications supplied through doctors or med spas. 'It blows my mind that a place like this can be in business.' Cobb said he believes the stores are exploiting a legal loophole. 'There's this loophole where you can create a chemical and so long as you say it's for lab research, it can be sold. It's not otherwise controlled,' he said. 'I don't think it's illegal to sell it and I don't think it's illegal to take it. The loophole is that everyone is lying about what the original purpose of it is.' Earlier this year, the FDA began a crackdown on so-called GLP-1s marked 'not for human consumption' and 'research only.' In warning letters to different companies making the sales, the FDA said selling unapproved, injectable GLP‑1 dupes to consumers while claiming they are for 'research use only' violates FDA regulations and may pose serious health risks.