Promising to delve “deep into the harsh reality that is the fentanyl epidemic,” a film funded by one of Colorado’s prominent political spenders is set to premiere at several Cinemark theaters across the state this month. 

“Devastated: Colorado’s Fentanyl Disaster” features voices that include 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen discussing the effects of the synthetic opioid on Colorado. According to the film’s website, “Devastated” also features the perspectives of parents of overdose victims, recovering addicts and former drug dealers. 

The film is funded by Steve Wells, a Weld County rancher whose personal fortune is behind multimillion-dollar campaign donations to GOP candidates in recent years. On the film’s website, Wells is quoted saying he “funded the film because someone had to do something.”

“But everyone — from parents to kids, teachers to politicians — have to get educated about just how deadly this drug is. It’s like swallowing a hand grenade in a tiny pill form,” he said. 

The film is directed by Steffan Tubbs, a former Denver-based radio host and filmmaker now listed as a media spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Division of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. His production company, Mountain Time Media, produced the film. 

“If we can get someone — anyone — to discuss the fentanyl epidemic with others after seeing this film, we’ve accomplished our goal,” Tubbs says in a quote on the film’s website. 

The film’s website links to Colorado House Bill 24-1306, which proposed increased penalties for possession of synthetic opiates but did not move past the House Judiciary Committee this legislative session. 

Allen has spoken out recently about his office’s commitment to increased prosecution of fentanyl-related crimes. At a District 11 town hall at Sabin Middle School in Colorado Springs in February, he said the District Attorney’s Office prosecuted 504 cases in 2023, a 113% increase from 2022 to 2023.

He also said his office was pushing for and receiving harsher sentences for certain drug offenses. 

“I really view the governor’s efforts on fentanyl to be half-hearted at best,” Allen says in a clip from the film’s trailer, interplayed with footage of Gov. Jared Polis. 

Fentanyl-related deaths in El Paso County doubled each year until 2022, according to El Paso County Coroner Dr. Leon Kelly. The county counted 41 fentanyl-related deaths in the first half of 2023. 

“Devastated” is set to premiere in Colorado Springs at the Cinemark Theater Tinseltown on May 18 at 3 p.m. Tickets and information can be found here.