GUEST COLUMN: Fentanyl crisis needs stronger legislation

Since 2015, Colorado has suffered 1,578 fentanyl deaths — a number equivalent to the enrollment at Denver South High School — and amounts to a staggering 1,008% increase. Since 2019, the increase in fentanyl deaths in Colorado has outstripped every state except Alaska — surging 382% during that time. Nationally, overdose deaths from opioids exceeds homicides by 307%. In 2021 alone, more than 800 Coloradans lost their lives to fentanyl.

The Centers for Disease Control recently announced that fentanyl is the leading cause of death among adults aged 18 to 45. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports that nearly half of counterfeit pills they tested contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, and Colorado has seen a 403% increase in the number of pounds of fentanyl seized between 2017 and 2021 on Colorado highways.
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Most Coloradans are familiar with two recent fentanyl horrors that the gaps in this bill and the immunity it creates would only make worse. Only a month ago, five people in Commerce City were killed by a dealer who provided them with less than 4 grams of fentanyl. In Colorado Springs, a dealer sold less than 4 grams of fentanyl to three high school students, killing one of them and hospitalizing the other two. Under the provisions of this bill, both drug dealers would be immune from prosecution if they had called the police to report the overdoses and cooperated with authorities. After answering a few questions, they would be free to go and would never spend even one night in jail for the lives they took and the drugs they sold. In fact, neither dealer would face more than a misdemeanor if they had been caught in possession before selling the poison that killed those six people.

Colorado’s Legislature has waited too long to address this frightening epidemic. While some aspects of the bill are helpful — including increased funding for education and tools for DAs to implement treatment options rather than imprisonment for addicts — it is a far cry from the legislation we need to address Colorado’s significant fentanyl crises. Coloradans deserve more.

Title 42 At Center Of Dispute In Colorado Amid War In Ukraine

CBS Denver: Those on the other side continue to back Title 42. In a statement, Rep. Lauren Boebert said in part, “Border Patrol agents have told me personally that Title 42 is helpful in their efforts to secure the southern border and to prevent the spread of all kinds of diseases. That’s all I need to hear. Leave it in place.”

The Colorado GOP is in agreement.

“I think the fact that Joe Biden is considering reversing it is going to put our entire nation, our communities, our families in danger from a crisis of an open border,” said Kristi Burton Brown, the chairwoman with the Colorado Republican Party.

In a recent White House press briefing, Biden’s team said the president does plan on reversing Title 42 at some point, but it’s unclear when that would be.

Brown outlined the party’s top concerns for Colorado. The first was to make Colorado a place for middle class families to live, where families could buy affordable housing, gas and groceries. The party is seeking to reverse excessive fees, taxes and regulations.

The second concern is public safety. The party will work to recruit and retain police officers, provide training and work to bring the crime rate down. Colorado currently rates number 1 in Auto thefts across the nation and second in Fentanyl deaths since decriminalization of controlled substances three years ago.

Third on the list is the expansion of educational choice for families. The one-size-fits all system does not work for all students.

GUEST COLUMN: Ukraine's fight for love of country, family, and freedom

It is also notable that Putin invaded while Obama and Biden were in the White House, but he did not do so when Trump was. A tyrant like Putin respects strength and resolve. America needs to reclaim this reputation.

As I write this President Zelensky and his family are still alive and free. Kyiv still stands. President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom I have met and whom I admire greatly, is a modern-day hero. His whole country and indeed the whole world has rallied around him.

Not because of who he is but because of what he stands for — love of country, family, and freedom.