Federal government recommends even elementary schools have naloxone available. So far this year, 15 Colorado kids between the ages of 10 and 18 have died from fentanyl overdose, not all at school.
overdose deaths
Posted inNews
Unhoused Coloradans turn to methamphetamine as a form of protection
In Colorado Springs, meth accounts for majority of drug overdose deaths. Many of the deceased were living outside, using the drug to stay awake.
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: A tougher drug-related homicide law won’t reduce overdose deaths
The more effective, less expensive way to save lives is to provide treatment to drug users.
Posted inOpinion Columns
Opinion: Signs of hope amid the overdose epidemic
Jason felt like his life was over before it had begun. Twenty-two years old, unable to keep a job, and spending his time and money maintaining a heroin habit, Jason wanted more but didn’t know how to stop using. As a psychiatrist working in the emergency department at Denver Health, I was equipped to help. […]
Posted inNews
Tragedy often begets more tragedy. Denver’s coroner wants to break the cycle by offering families help.
The body on the table was that of a 28-year-old man. Inside an autopsy bay, professionals from the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner were trying to figure out what killed him. To the doctors and forensic pathologists who perform the valuable service of cataloging Denver’s dead, this was just another day at the office. […]
Posted inHealth, News
U.S. overdose deaths topped 100,000 in one year, officials say
By Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and a more dangerous drug supply. Overdose deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two years and, according to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: A bill in the Colorado legislature might have saved my son
My son’s story may resonate with many others who have gone through the same experience. It started with a broken ankle. He was given opiates for pain alleviation and quickly became addicted to the doctor-prescribed medication. Not long after that, his girlfriend ended up finding him between the couch and the coffee table, unconscious. My […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, Health, News
Counterfeit opioid pills made in Mexico pushed Colorado into a third, deadly wave of the opioid crisis
Colorado has entered the third wave — the deadliest wave so far — in the opioid epidemic, as counterfeit opioid pills made to look like real oxycodone or Xanax are supplanting heroin in state drug-smuggling operations, the regional DEA office has warned. The evidence is in the overdose statistics, which skyrocketed in 2020. Overdoses due […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: A law-enforcement case for supervised drug-use sites
While 2020 will always be known as the year the global COVID-19 pandemic began, there was another public health crisis playing out less publicly. Last year, at least 1,223 Coloradans died of overdoses, 20% more than in 2019. This is a tragedy, but I am hopeful it will finally be the wake-up call for our […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Fentanyl overdoses are surging in Colorado as the powerful opioid is disguised as other drugs
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 […]