Measures on alcohol, nonprofit gambling and hallucinogens could continue state’s deregulation trend
drugs
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Zornio: Let’s set aside political chatter. Here are the facts on Colorado’s fentanyl crisis.
For decades, America has fought — and lost — the “War on Drugs.” Now, with Colorado lawmakers considering a proposal to make possession of 1 gram of fentanyl a felony, it’s time to acknowledge the past errors of public health policy that locked millions of people behind bars instead of enacting long-term solutions to treating […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: The Fentanyl Accountability and Prevention Act comes spiked with trace amounts of bad policy
Fentanyl is killing Coloradans. Fentanyl is killing families, it is killing businesses and it is killing communities. That is exactly why the most heated bill of this legislative session has been the Fentanyl Accountability and Prevention Act. Unfortunately, good politics appears headed toward bad policy. Or at least less good policy. Critics of the bill […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Littwin: Colorado House Speaker Alec Garnett says he’s retiring from politics when the session ends
Before I reached Colorado House Speaker Alec Garnett the other day, I had been warned that he seemed especially tired and maybe more than a little stressed. That was hardly a surprise. It’s the time of year — the final few weeks of the legislative session — when stress is pretty much universal at the […]
Posted inNews
Knowingly having more than 1 gram of fentanyl would be felony under change to Colorado bill
Knowingly possessing more than 1 gram of fentanyl or a fentanyl compound for personal use would be a felony in Colorado under an amendment passed Wednesday afternoon by the House Judiciary Committee to a bill seeking to stem rising overdose deaths linked to the powerful synthetic opioid. The committee’s 7-4 vote to adopt the amendment […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Sen. Kirkmeyer and Sheriff Reams: Make fentanyl distribution and possession a felony, again
Fentanyl is poison, and it’s time that Colorado policy makers recognize it as such. Drug dealers are lacing recreational drugs with fentanyl, often unbeknownst to drug users, to get users hooked. If tobacco companies did this, Congress and the Colorado General Assembly would jump to action. The same would be true if drug dealers were […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: 10 years in, Marijuana legalization hasn’t changed the youth usage rate
This year we celebrate the 10-year-anniversary since Colorado took the courageous leap of legalizing marijuana. As Colorado’s cannabis marketplace has matured and thrived over the past decade, we know for certain: It is working and thriving. Adults and patients have access to safe products, incarceration rates for cannabis-related crimes have decreased, hundreds of millions of […]
Posted inHealth, News
Calls in Denver, across U.S. to overhaul methadone distribution intensify, but clinics resist
By Markian Hawryluk, Kaiser Health News Days typically start early for patients undergoing opioid addiction treatment at Denver Recovery Group’s six methadone clinics in Colorado. They rise before dawn. Some take three buses to get to a clinic by 5 a.m. for a 15-minute conversation with a counselor and their daily dose of methadone, all […]
Posted inHealth, News
Colorado will get $385 million after Johnson & Johnson, distributors finalize landmark $26 billion opioid settlement
By Geoff Mulvhill, The Associated Press CAMDEN, N.J. — Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors finalized nationwide settlements over their role in the opioid addiction crisis Friday, an announcement that clears the way for $26 billion to flow to nearly every state and local government in the U.S. Taken together, the settlements are […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers are rethinking a 2019 law that made possessing thousands of lethal fentanyl doses a misdemeanor
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and state lawmakers are rethinking a 2019 law that made possession of thousands of lethal doses of fentanyl a misdemeanor as overdoses from the potent opioid continue to rise. The law is getting even more attention after five adults died from a suspected fentanyl overdose Sunday in Commerce City. Last year, […]