Pueblo state Sen. Leroy Garcia says his southern Colorado community is among those besieged by abuse of opioids like heroin, oxycodone and assorted other drugs. It’s especially problematic among young people.

So, the first-term Democrat is proposing a regional pilot program that, according to a press release his office distributed Tuesday, would “provide grants to medical professionals to increase access to life-saving treatment and care for patients battling opioid addiction in Pueblo and Routt counties.”

Garcia’s Senate Bill 74 would create a two-year pilot program under the auspices of the University of Colorado’s College of Nursing to expand access to “life-saving medication-assisted treatment.” The treatment involves both medication and behavioral therapy and, Garcia says, has been proven to be clinically effective to reduce the need for inpatient detoxification services.

“The epidemic of opioid addiction is hurting young people, and tearing apart communities,” Garcia says in the news release. “Approximately 6 percent of the state’s population lives in Southern Colorado. Yet in 2014, our community represented 18.1 percent of those admitted for heroin addiction. By increasing access to life-saving treatment and care through this pilot program, we can take a small, yet important step towards addressing an epidemic that claimed more Colorado lives than homicide did in 2015.”

If it becomes law, the program would receive $1 million in initial funding from the marijuana tax cash fund, while also seeking additional federal grants. The bill is scheduled to debut Feb. 8 in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.