The controversial legislation to combat fentanyl, which killed more than 900 people in Colorado last year, officially became state law Wednesday.
Flanked by sponsoring lawmakers from both parties, law enforcement leaders and family members of people killed by fentanyl, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed HB22-1326 on the Capitol steps in Denver.
“Making Colorado one of the 10 safest states over the next five years is one of our top priorities,” Polis said. “Frankly, across our state, people are simply fed up with the pain that this new and dangerous drug is inflicting in our communities.”
The bill promises a wide range of changes. For one, it directs $29 million toward harm-reduction tools including testing strips and lifesaving opioid antagonists such as Narcan and naloxone, plus $7 million more meant for law enforcement to better investigate fentanyl cases. It expands drug addiction treatment in jails, and requires that law enforcement funnel certain people suffering drug addiction into jail-based treatment programs. It also requires the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment to launch a public education program meant to inform people about the dangers of fentanyl.
But in a piece of legislation that runs 73 pages long, it was the particular subject of criminality that produced major controversy as the bill was being debated. The bill proposes harsher criminal penalties for people who sell fentanyl, and was indeed driven in large part by a desire from Polis and many other leading politicians to crack down on those who distribute fentanyl. Polis has called them “death dealers.”
