A few weeks ago we asked our friends in Colorado to reach out to your Representatives to demand a stop to a bill that would increase policing and criminal penalties for people who use drugs. This bill has passed the Colorado House of Representatives and is moving rapidly through the Senate Judiciary committee. Time is running out. We need to demand that our state Senators stand with harm reduction advocates and stop criminalizing drug use NOW!

As it is currently written, HB22-1326 would create felony penalties for fentanyl possession and for fentanyl distributions. The bill would also force some people to mandatory community-based or residential drug treatment as a condition of their probation.

We tried this approach already in the “war on drugs.” It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. The criminalization provisions in HB22-1326 will be used to target Black and Latinx communities, low-income communities, and trans and gender diverse people– groups that are already disproportionately policed, surveilled and incarcerated. Forced treatment, increased policing, and increased punishment will only push folks further to the margins and worsen the overdose crisis in Colorado.

We need comprehensive harm reduction and health care; not prisons.

What can you do?

Call or email your Senator and let them know that although there are some helpful provisions in the bill, they don’t outweigh our concerns! Click here to find out who your Senator is and access their phone number and email.

Here’s a script to follow:

Hello Senator _____________,

I am [calling OR writing] you today to express my concerns with HB 22-1326. Creating felony penalties for fentanyl possession will lead to more policing, incarceration, and harm to communities impacted by the opioid epidemic. We need harm reduction and health care; not prison.

While HB 22-1326 has several helpful provisions, including the expansion of naloxone standing orders, a good Samaritan provision, and increased funding for harm reduction programs, it is not enough to outweigh the damage this bill could do. Court ordered treatment for substance use violates bodily autonomy and is not an effective recovery programmatic strategy. Increased criminal penalties and mandatory sentencing for drug-related offenses has failed Coloradans time and time again. Such criminalization disproportionately harms communities that are already over-policed and over-incarcerated. That’s why I oppose this bill.

The “war on drugs” was ineffective and has done lasting damage to our state; we cannot police and criminalize our way out of a public health issue. Listen to harm reduction experts, public health officials, and community members: criminalizing people who use drugs is not a just or effective way to address the fentanyl crisis. Please oppose HB 22-1326 when it comes to the Senate floor.

Thank you,
[your name]

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