For the past several years, law enforcement and public health officials have warned that fentanyl — a potent, synthetic opioid powder causing a spike in overdoses on the coasts — would soon arrive in Colorado. It’s clearly here, and the statistics for 2020 reveal a drastic jump in use of the drug considered 10 times […]
Harm Reduction Action Center
Posted inHealth, Housing, News, Politics and Government
How one block on Pearl Street represents Denver’s stubborn homelessness crisis
“I’m going to shoot him!” The man’s shouts echoed in the street at 2 a.m. as he rummaged through his belongings for a gun. Screams and yelling erupted in the encampment on Pearl Street, where about 25 people are living in tents, keeping warm with makeshift fire pits fueled by propane tanks inside blanket- and […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Health, News
Supervised injection site supporters aren’t ready to give up on the conversation in Colorado
The quest to include Denver among the first cities in the nation to open a supervised injection site for drug users isn’t dead, at least not along the front lines of the city’s war against heroin. Colorado was buzzing last fall — on talk radio, at City Council and among state policymakers — about a […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Denver moves forward with plan for supervised injection site for IV-drug users
Denver City Council approved plans Monday night to open a supervised injection site where IV-drug users could inject heroin near staff standing by with the life-saving antidote to opioid overdose. The two-year pilot program is contingent on state legislation that would create criminal immunity for those using drugs at the site, a sterile clinic containing […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, Health, News
Denver city councilman, state lawmaker revive plans for safe injection site, in spite of federal law
Tony Fairchild died leaning against a tree along the Cherry Creek Trail, overlooking the water as autumn leaves fell. It could have happened anywhere — a restaurant bathroom or a shadowy alley. Not long before, Tony had overdosed in the restroom of a Sonic Drive-In, and police had to break down the door to get […]