opioid
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Arapahoe County adopts new approach to opioid abatement funding, invests $4M in service building
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Arapahoe County officials are investing more than $4 million in opioid harm reduction programs, with the latest phase of funding taking a new approach, according to a news release. Normally, county officials seek out fully built programs to fund through a request for proposals. But this time, they’re looking for partners to help design and…
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Colorado justices, 5-2, rule jury may consider victim’s suicidality in fentanyl distribution case
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The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a 2022 state law allows jurors to hear about a victim’s suicidal intentions when determining if a defendant is guilty of selling fentanyl and causing the victim’s death. The justices interpreted for the first time a relatively new law imposing harsher penalties for those who distribute the synthetic opioid…
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Colorado Supreme Court says health providers may be sued for reporting drug theft
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Even though individual healthcare workers enjoy immunity from lawsuits when investigating potential prescription drug theft, the same shield does not exist for organizations that report such criminal activity, the Colorado Supreme Court clarified on Monday. Certain laws in Colorado grant immunity to “persons” who report crimes or elder abuse. However, the question for the Supreme Court…
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Walmart to pay $3.1 billion in opioid settlement led by Colorado, 15 other states
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Walmart has agreed to pay $3.1 billion in a national settlement to resolve claims from over a dozen states’ attorneys general that the company contributed to the opioid addiction crisis. Colorado is set to receive more than $40 million of the settlement money, state Attorney General Phil Weiser announced on Tuesday. Weiser led the negotiations…
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Plagued by crime, metro Denver is among the worst in America: CSI report
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A new report paints metro Denver as an urban region plagued by rising crime – with numbers that are among the worst in the country. Car theft in Denver is second highest in the nation, and three other Colorado cities rank in the Top 10, according to the Common Sense Institute, a free enterprise think tank. Indeed,…
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Colorado gets $18 million in opioid settlement money
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Colorado will receive $18 million in opioid settlement money, Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Thursday. Nineteen regions in Colorado will split the $18 million, while Denver will get $4.7 million. Denver Labor team returns over $1 million to underpaid workers Denver plans to use the money in three areas: Prevention, treatment and infrastructure, according to…
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Colorado Senate passes fentanyl bill, sets felony threshold at 1 gram
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The Senate Friday, on bipartisan lines, approved a sweeping measure that seeks to confront Colorado’s fentanyl crisis by making it a felony to possess 1 gram of an illicit substance that contains the deadly drug. The full Senate approved House Bill 1326 on a 24-8 vote, a day after the chamber decided that prosecutors shouldn’t have…
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Senate advances fentanyl bill, adopts law enforcement’s key request on felony language
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The Colorado legislature’s struggle on how to deal with fentanyl possession took another turn Thursday, when the state Senate decided that prosecutors shouldn’t have to prove that users knowingly possessed the drug in order to charge them with a felony. The revision is the most significant and far-reaching change to come out of the Senate’s work…
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Law enforcement coalition calls fentanyl bill’s felony provision ‘practically meaningless’
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A coalition of law enforcement groups on Tuesday described state fentanyl legislation’s current felony provision for simple possession as “practically meaningless,” while a group representing district attorneys said that language renders the intended teeth in the legislation “almost useless.” The coalition, composed of the County Sheriffs of Colorado, the Colorado Association of Chiefs of…
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As families recount stories of heartbreak, legislators mull contours of response to fentanyl crisis
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There were few constants through Keith’s short life. His family – his parents Trisha and Jason Davidson, and sister Shaelynn – was one. His curiosity – constantly tinkering with electronics, fascination with space, admiration for Elon Musk – was another. But so, too, was the failure of institutions that were in a position to help him as…
