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The fight over fentanyl is back on tap in Colorado’s General Assembly
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coloradopolitics.com, State

The fight over fentanyl is back on tap in Colorado’s General Assembly

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The fentanyl epidemic, which produced intense fights two years ago over how to confront the soaring deaths from the synthetic opioid, has returned to the Colorado state Capitol this year. In the past several weeks, lawmakers have already turned down one bill that would make possession of small amounts of fentanyl a felony. And efforts are afoot to put the subject on the ballot. Used legitimately as a medical anesthetic, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has become a dominant player in the illicit market and is increasingly being mixed into other substances. It's cheaper and produces a more potent, more fleeting "high," according to experts. But its potency in small quantities makes it unlike any other substance that preceded it. READ T...
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Senate committee halts SB 44, the bill to increase fentanyl criminal penalties
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DENVER7, State

Senate committee halts SB 44, the bill to increase fentanyl criminal penalties

By Ryan Fish | Denver 7 News With a 4-3 vote, a bill that proposed harsher criminal penalties related to fentanyl was postponed indefinitely Monday night inside the Colorado Capitol after a lengthy hearing inside the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Bill 25-044 was introduced on Jan. 8, and its prime sponsors are Sen. Byron Pelton and Rep. Ryan Armagost. The bill aimed to increase the penalties for people accused of manufacturing, selling or distributing — or possession with intent to do so — anything that contained fentanyl, carfentanil or benzimidazole opiate. If passed, people accused of those crimes will face a Level 1 drug felony. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVER 7 NEWS
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Man convicted in Aurora operation that produced ‘millions’ of fentanyl pills
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kdvr.com, Local

Man convicted in Aurora operation that produced ‘millions’ of fentanyl pills

By Jacob Factor | KDVR-TV Fox 31 News A Denver jury has convicted a man responsible for producing “millions of individual fentanyl pills” during 2024 in a drug manufacturing operation based in Aurora, the Denver District Attorney announced Wednesday morning. Tashon Roberts, 33, was convicted on four charges related to the manufacture, possession and distribution of fentanyl as well as three counts of child abuse – exposure to the manufacturing of a controlled substance and one count of tampering with physical evidence. The jury also convicted Roberts on three “Special Drug Offender” sentence enhancement charges. READ THE FULL STORY AT KDVR-TV FOX 31 NEWS
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Five sentenced for delivering fentanyl that killed Colorado inmate
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CBS Colorado, Local

Five sentenced for delivering fentanyl that killed Colorado inmate

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Prison sentences were handed out Wednesday to the last of five people involved in the fatal fentanyl overdose of a Colorado inmate. The pills that killed her were smuggled into the jail inside another woman's body.  Alizon Lopez was found unresponsive in her cell at 2:30 p.m. on May 21, 2022, by her cellmate, shortly after she had finished her work shift in the jail's laundry. Jail deputies and nursing staff immediately began CPR and called for an ambulance. But Lopez never recovered.  Months later, the Mesa County Coroner's Office concluded Lopez died of fentanyl intoxication. It called her death an accident.  READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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Police backtrack on claim that University of Colorado students overdosed on drugs laced with fentanyl
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CBS Colorado, Local

Police backtrack on claim that University of Colorado students overdosed on drugs laced with fentanyl

By Jesse Sarles | CBS Colorado Police in Boulder are now backtracking on their claim that over the weekend a group of University of Colorado students overdosed on cocaine that was possibly tainted with fentanyl. Instead, police now say the five men had consumed an extreme amount of alcohol and then some had taken drugs which led them to become violently sick. It happened on Saturday night at Kappa Sigma fraternity. Police say Narcan was used at the fraternity house before the students were transported to the hospital. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS COLORADO
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‘It’s a nightmare’: After losing son, Colorado Springs mother speaks out about the danger of fentanyl
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KKTV CBS 11, Local

‘It’s a nightmare’: After losing son, Colorado Springs mother speaks out about the danger of fentanyl

By Blake Sammann | KKTV-TV CBS 11 After reports of a record number of seizures, one Colorado Springs mother wants to raise awareness about the danger fentanyl poses to local families. Angela Carney said her son, Devin, died in April 2021 due to an allergic reaction to fentanyl. She said the tragedy is still taking a toll on her. “I cry every day, just wishing that I could hear Devin’s voice once more, just one more time, to see his smile,” she said. This comes as Colorado DEA officials said they’ve seized a record number of fentanyl pills in 2024. READ THE FULL STORY AT KKTV-TV CBS 11
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Colorado Springs man gets 23-year sentence on meth and fentanyl trafficking
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gazette.com, Local

Colorado Springs man gets 23-year sentence on meth and fentanyl trafficking

By The Gazette A traffic stop led to a major drug bust, and now a 23-year prison sentence for Colorado Springs resident Michael Hemersbach, 36.  Hemersbach pleaded guilty Nov. 7 in a Douglas County courtroom to possession with intent to manufacture or distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to manufacture or distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to manufacture or distribute cocaine and driving while impaired, according to a news release Monday from the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.  Hemersback was pulled over by a Colorado State Patrol trooper, who noted his Chrysler 300 was repeatedly weaving while driving southbound on Interstate 25, near the Happy Canyon Road exit north of Castle Rock on July 13, 2023.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETT...
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Colorado seizes nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills in 2024, setting new record with month to go
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KKTV CBS 11, State

Colorado seizes nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills in 2024, setting new record with month to go

By Lindsey Grewe | KKTV-TV CBS 11 The state of Colorado has broken an unwanted record: with one month still to go, law enforcement has already seized more fentanyl pills statewide than in any other year past. “It is an unfortunate record to set,” said Jonthan Pullen, special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Field Division (RMFD). “... While we have seen seizure numbers trending lower in other parts of the country, Colorado seems to be consistently at or near record highs for the number of fake pills seized.” To date in 2023, RMFD says it has collected nearly 2.7 million fentanyl pills, up from last year’s record-setting 2.61 million pills. Of those roughly 2.7 million, lab testing revealed half contain enough fentanyl to be fatal. READ T...
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On Western Slope, opioid crisis continues and sheriffs say it is leading to mental health, crime
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Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

On Western Slope, opioid crisis continues and sheriffs say it is leading to mental health, crime

By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell and Delta County Sheriff Mark Taylor have had  a constant battle fighting the opioid crisis in their counties since 2017, when it first started impacting western Colorado. MESA COUNTY When opioids first appeared as fentanyl on the Western Slope in 2017-18, each pill cost $18. Now, because of increases in the supply, they are $2 a pill.  "Fentanyl is a 45-minute high, and we see people taking up to 40 pills a day. It makes zombies out of people in our community,” Rowell said. In Mesa County, according to Rowell, law enforcement and first responders have had to administer Narcan - a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose - 114 times in the last year. “That’s one person every t...
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DEA forecasting record-breaking fentanyl seizures in Rocky Mountain region, including in Colorado, Utah
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Cowboy State Daily, State

DEA forecasting record-breaking fentanyl seizures in Rocky Mountain region, including in Colorado, Utah

By Jen Kocher | Cowboy State Daily While fentanyl arrests may be down so far in Wyoming this year, seizures are skyrocketing in adjacent southern border states while a more deadly form of meth takes hold across the state. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency saw record seizures of fentanyl in Utah in June, surpassing the prior year by nearly 17%. The arrests were part of DEA’s Operation Cash Out efforts to increase its ground game while simultaneously going after drug profits leaving the country. READ THE FULL STORY AT COWBOY STATE DAILY
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