U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, local law enforcement leaders, county officials and health care leaders gathered to discuss the worsening fentanyl crisis and its impacts on El Paso County during a roundtable Wednesday at the Sheriff’s Office.

The meeting was designed to raise public awareness about the proliferation of fentanyl and its deadliness as El Paso County is on track to surpass last year’s record number of fentanyl-related deaths. The meeting came two weeks after The Gazette and news partner KKTV hosted a town hall on the issue.

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El Paso County has more than doubled the number of fentanyl-related deaths since 2017, when five people died. This year, the county is 10 deaths ahead of last year at the same time after 32 people died, El Paso County Coroner Dr. Leon Kelly said during the roundtable. In 2020, more than 100 people died.

Fentanyl is the No. 1 cause of death for Americans ages  18-45, Families Against Fentanyl, a nonprofit, reported. 

“That was really the big tipping point nationally where we went from a problem to a crisis, is once you have a pill form … that’s what it saturates the community,” Kelly said.

Colorado State Patrol seized nearly 14,000 fentanyl pills in 2021 and 151 pounds of fentanyl powder, according to the agency’s website. That was a 403% increase from 2020.

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For rural counties, the issue can be compounded because of lack of access to resources, Kelly said, including addiction recovery programs and other mental health support. State and local officials are actively working on legislation to combat the fentanyl crisis statewide, including changes to criminal penalties and providing more funding to recovery programs.

But legislation needs to be proactive when it comes to analogues of fentanyl, Lamborn said. Analogues are chemical variations of the drug that are more powerful and potent than fentanyl, which Kelly said is the most toxic drug released on the streets.

“If we don’t address that going forward, the manufacturers and the chemists can stay one step ahead of law enforcement and legislation by slightly changing the molecule, by slightly changing the chemical formula so that technically, they will argue in court that they’re not liable for prosecution, because it’s not actually fentanyl,” Lamborn said.

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When it comes to solutions, officials said treatment programs, public safety and public education serve as avenues to curb the issue, and acknowledged that it will take the entire community to turn the tide of the fentanyl crisis.

“I really want to try to raise awareness on all the levels,” Matt Riviera, a Monument father whose two sons died from fentanyl overdoses, said during the roundtable. 

“This does not discriminate. Doesn’t matter what political affiliation you’re with, doesn’t matter what race you are, what gender you are, what your beliefs are. This is destroying our country.”