Colorado is at a crossroads when it comes to the overdose crisis, which is among the most deadly public health emergencies in American history. With its proximity to the I-70 and I-24 corridors, where fentanyl is smuggled across the country, it has the opportunity to choose a path that can set an example for the nation as a state.
That is why I strongly support HB23-1202, a bill that will allow Colorado cities the choice of establishing Overdose Prevention Centers, which provide medical supervision, safe equipment, overdose-reversal medication, and referrals to addiction treatment services for people who use heroin and fentanyl. This will steer use away from public streets, buses, and parks into controlled settings where opiate addiction can be treated like the critical public health issue it is. As a former police officer in New York City, where some of the first Overdose Prevention Centers in the U.S. have now opened, I have seen how harm reduction — far from encouraging use — is a way for us to save lives and help addicted people find recovery options.
Colorado loses five residents to overdose every day, and it is therefore critical to evaluate the evidence on Overdose Prevention Centers. While hundreds of centers have been implemented successfully across Europe and Canada, Vancouver serves as an instructive example. After the city was allowed to choose this model of supervised opioid use, the community experienced a nearly 30 percent decline in overdose deaths. In Barcelona, Spain, the community saw its overdose deaths reduced by half over two decades with the implementation of this prevention model, suggesting even stronger benefits over time.
Police officers very often find themselves at the exhausting and traumatic frontlines of this overdose crisis—responding to overdoses to administer reversal medications like naloxone. However, we cannot always respond in time to prevent permanent brain damage or death from occurring from an overdose the way that medical professionals can at Overdose Prevention Centers. Giving communities a choice means that our officers will have more time to focus on addressing the root causes of violent crime in our community rather than constantly responding to these horrific overdose incidents.
Lastly, giving localities the choice to establish these centers can help us keep our public spaces clean from used needles and other paraphernalia. Rather than having officers respond to nuisance calls about individuals using these substances in businesses’ bathrooms, public transit, or public parks, we can instead rest assured they are safe and connected with resources that can help them work through addiction. Business leaders in Vancouver who were initially skeptical of overdose prevention sites have come to appreciate how contained and controlled use keeps their neighborhoods safer.
Families are suffering from the loss of their loved ones across the state and our nation. We owe it to them to allow their voices to be heard on this critical issue of public safety. Colorado stands at a crossroads, and the path it chooses next is one of life or death for countless people in its communities.
Jeff Kaufman is an attorney and former officer with the New York Police Department for the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn. He has also served as a teacher at Rikers Island, where he taught criminal law.
