try to address rising overdoses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe whole framing of the conversation is 100 percent political, and it\u2019s on both sides of the aisle,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s to blame?<\/h2>\n
Tom Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys Council, said the 2019 law has led to more overdose deaths by making it harder to punish dealers.<\/p>\n
While that law didn\u2019t change the punishment for dealing drugs, it did take away an easier route for prosecutors: In the past, they could still get a felony charge for simple possession, without having to prove intent to distribute.<\/p>\n
Now, he said, a dealer with 30 fentanyl pills could claim to simply be a user. \u201cAnd without some other evidence of dealing, he\u2019s going to walk away with a ticket,\u201d Raynes said.<\/p>\n
Herod reiterated that the bipartisan reform did nothing to change the law for drug distribution. She said that prosecutors across the state are still charging people with distribution for amounts less than four grams, showing it’s possible. And it\u2019s incumbent on the prosecution, she said, to bring charges for the appropriate crimes and find evidence to support them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re trying to use the 2019 law to just point the finger,\u201d she said. \u201cThe rise in overdose deaths in Colorado started in the 2000s. We\u2019ve been talking about it since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is being proposed?<\/h2>\n
House Speaker Alec Garnett confirmed he was working on a bill, although it hasn\u2019t been introduced yet. He stressed that the focus was on targeting dealers and helping users.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs four grams of fentanyl a lot of fentanyl? Yes. Will it kill a lot of people? Yes. Does putting addicts in jail solve the problem? No,\u201d Garnett said in a media briefing Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Separately, Herod said that she\u2019s open to the idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe there is opportunity for us to talk about policy on the public safety side for ensuring those high level dealers are gone and that we take fentanyl off the streets,\u201d she said, though she added that the \u201cdevil is in the details.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers have revealed few of those details. But one proposal would allow drug dealers to be charged with more serious crimes at lower levels of possession, according to Raynes.<\/p>\n
For example, the highest level of drug distribution felony currently applies to a person caught with more than 225 grams of schedule I and II drugs. Raynes wants to see that lowered to 50 grams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thresholds for the second-highest charge also could be dropped from 14 grams to 4 grams, Raynes said. (Those distribution charges would still require evidence that the person was selling or planned to distribute the drug.)<\/p>\n
Raynes also wants lawmakers to consider adding harsher punishments when the distribution of a drug leads to death, and he wants more legal options for forcing drug users to get treatment. In the past, the threat of a felony possession charge made that easier, he said.<\/p>\n
Lisa Raville, executive director of the nonprofit Harm Reduction Action Center, agrees that the increasing presence of fentanyl in the state requires \u201call hands on deck.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she worries that a drive for increased penalties would mostly hurt people who are addicted to the drug. While four grams of pure fentanyl could contain thousands of lethal doses, the weight thresholds for criminal charges apply to \u201ccompound\u201d substances. People with a few grams of pills that contain just a trace amount of fentanyl could be caught up in enforcement efforts.<\/p>\n
And Raville\u2019s skeptical that targeting suppliers \u2014 a long-running focus of the war on drugs \u2014 will have much effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of concerns about the direction they\u2019re going with fentanyl,\u201d she said. \u201cBut nothing\u2019s been introduced yet (in the legislature.) I\u2019m trying to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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