DENVER (KDVR) — After a six-hour hearing, a bill that would allow cities to set up so-called “overdose prevention centers” advanced to the full House on Wednesday night.
Can the controversial plan pass the House and Senate? Would Gov. Jared Polis even sign it? The future of the Overdose Prevention Center Authorization bill is discussed this week on political program “Colorado Point of View.”
How would supervised drug-use sites work?
Supporters said drug overdose prevention centers save lives, allowing workers to intervene in potentially deadly overdoses. The centers also offer long-term treatment services to substance users.
Breeah Kinsella — with the Colorado Providers Association, a group that represents recovery service providers — talked about how it would work in Denver, where the city council approved the centers back in 2018.
“The pilot program would require the Harm Reduction Action Center to create a strategic plan with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, as well as the city (of Denver), to ensure that they are providing those opportunities to go to treatment,” Kinsella said.
Concerns raised about overdose prevention centers
Republican state lawmakers are voicing concerns about the bill. State Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Adams and Weld counties, is also a former officer with the Arvada Police Department. He said during his time as an officer, he witnessed many drug transactions and also saw users taking those drugs moments after obtaining them.
“Expecting somebody suffering from addiction to have the self-control to get that narcotic and then take 30 minutes to ride the bus or however they’re going to get to an overdose prevention center and then take it there, it’s not born out by what I saw during my career,” Evans said.
There is also no guarantee that Polis would sign the bill into law if it makes it through the full House and Senate. In a statement, a spokesperson for the governor said, he “would be deeply concerned with any approach that would contribute to more drug use and lawlessness. The governor was proud to sign legislation last year providing historic funding for research-based harm-reduction strategies to be applied across Colorado, coupled with more tools to crack down on drug dealers.”
Watch the full in-depth discussion on this bill on “Colorado Point of View” this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. on Colorado’s Very Own Channel 2.