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Tag: Opioid

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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Loveland wants to create street outreach program with opioid settlement funds
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DENVER7, Local

Loveland wants to create street outreach program with opioid settlement funds

By Veronica Acosta | Denver 7 News To date, Colorado is on track to receive more than $750 million in opioid settlement funds from different pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors. The City of Loveland will receive $1.8 million after it opted into the settlement funds in 2021. The city hopes to create a street outreach program with part of the $340,000 it's already received. "It's really not enough money to be able to do something like build housing for people to go to recover, but it is enough money to start a street outreach program," said Alison Hade, the Community Partnership Office manager for the City of Loveland. READ THE FULL STORY AT DENVER 7 NEWS
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El Paso, Teller counties to get $66 million in grants to address opioid epidemic
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Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

El Paso, Teller counties to get $66 million in grants to address opioid epidemic

By Mary Shinn | Colorado Springs Gazette El Paso and Teller counties are expected to receive $66 million through 2038 to address the opioid epidemic, a scourge that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives nationally.  A regional council awarded the first round of that funding, about $3.8 million, in April. The council left about $1.1 million in reserve to fund additional youth prevention programs, said Amanda Grant, an El Paso County finance employee who works with the council. She said the region is currently expected to receive $66 million, although the number will fluctuate depending on settlement outcomes.  The board is composed of 15 officials from El Paso and Teller counties, including county commissioners, city and town council members and law enforcement repre...
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