We all make mistakes. In 2018, we mistook Shane Sandridge for a stable, center-right conservative Republican and endorsed him for House District 14. Supporting this top figure in the pro-fentanyl Hall of Shame was a mistake with deadly consequences.

Sandridge ran by flaunting his work as an “inner-city police officer” in Kansas City. His legislative bio claims he “learned how progressive policies actually attract crime.” Indeed, as seen with Colorado’s fentanyl crisis.

The politician’s statements and bio mislead the public. Sandridge supported and supports tying the hands of cops desperate to eradicate an illicit poison, fentanyl, that is 50 times more potent than heroin.

We asked Sandridge why he co-sponsored House Bill 1263 in 2019. He corrected us, saying he was a “co-prime” sponsor.

“It’s my bill. I wrote it,” he said Sunday in a bizarre verbal rampage.

The Sandridge Law, for which he wants sole credit, allows anyone to have four grams of poison without fear of a felony.

Four grams can cause more than 2,000 overdose deaths, and it’s happening. Because of the Sandridge Law, Colorado has become a hub for drug dealers. They risk little and are wise to relocate here from almost anyplace else.

The notion of four grams as a personal stash defies logic. The same goes for the 1-gram threshold a new House Bill would allow. Any measurable amount in multiple hands poses widespread death.

Nearly anyone with a gram or more plans to share or sell. A misdemeanor charge will neither get dealers off our streets nor deter them from distribution.

It is no surprise that fentanyl deaths of Colorado children rose 600% in the immediate two years after Sandridge concocted this law. Overall deaths increased 529%. Not counted in the data are recent deaths of infants who accidentally consumed trace amounts left around by adults. It gets worse by the day.

No state other than Alaska has a higher rate of increase, and Alaska’s data are skewed by a small base rate attributable to a population smaller than that of metro Colorado Springs. In real numbers, Colorado has the country’s fastest-growing fentanyl crisis – by far -thanks mostly to Republican Shane Sandridge.

Seeing the results of this bill, we expected Sandridge to apologize for a lapse in judgment. A crisis he created proves his claim that “progressive policies attract crime.” Instead, Sandridge doubled down last week during a hearing on House Bill 1326 – which proposes continued protection of drug dealers. He opposed every attempt to amend the bill to assist law enforcers, who want restoration of felony charges for possession.

Several amendments proposed felony penalties with a “wobbler” that reduces or eliminates charges for those who complete addiction counseling. The wobbler means we want positive outcomes for drug users, not incarceration.

Sandridge wouldn’t have it. He wants no possible felony threat for possessing deadly amounts of fentanyl. Contemplate this drivel from his testimony on Friday.

“Law enforcement and DAs (district attorneys), I look at them very much like going to a brake shop,” Sandridge said. “When you go to a brake shop, they only have one solution. Brakes… Right? They’re not doing all these other solutions. One solution. Brakes. Well, when you have someone trained in only one solution – Jail – that’s going to be the answer. And if they’re not trained in transmissions or engines, they’re not going to bring up maybe your transmission’s messed up or maybe your engine’s messed up. They’re going to bring up brakes…”

Thanks, Einstein. In his conversation with The Gazette, he continued denigrating law enforcement. He said he knows more than cops and prosecutors because he went from work as an “inner-city police officer to a Ph.D. program” in criminology.

Any cop knows our courts never impose confinement for simple possession by those who accept help. Sandridge legitimized a poison that subsequently killed thousands of young people – and continues doing so. Cops and DAs say Sandridge tied their hands, so Sandridge compares them to brake mechanics who lack his level of education.

Sandridge is unfit for future public service of any type. The Gazette regrets falling for his deliberately deceptive song-and-dance about cracking down on crime. He wrote a law to escalate crime, at an ongoing cost to innocent lives.

Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board