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Signature Gathering Intensifies As Colorado Ballot Battles Take Shape
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Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Signature Gathering Intensifies As Colorado Ballot Battles Take Shape

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado DENVER– A large-scale signature gathering effort is underway in Colorado as proponents rush to get numerous citizen-initiated ballot measures qualified for the November statewide election, with issues ranging from from a right to hunt and fish to capping the stat income tax rate. The conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, for example, is hip-deep in the effort, with two measures already on the ballot and at least three others are in the signature gathering phase. Already on the ballot is “Penalties for Fentanyl Crimes,” a statutory change that reinstates certain penalties related to fentanyl that the Democrat-controlled legislature has weakened or removed over the years. A second measure, “Law Enforcement Reporting Requ...
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Report Ties Colorado’s Fentanyl Death Surge To Weaker Drug Laws
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Report Ties Colorado’s Fentanyl Death Surge To Weaker Drug Laws

By Jacob Mauk | Colorado Politics Overdose deaths from opioids rose in Colorado, diverging from the national trend, which has been decreasing, according to a new study from a think tank. In its new report, the Common Sense Institute said synthetic opioid overdose deaths in Colorado have grown by 17% since November 2024, the third-fastest growth rate in the country. The only states with higher spike rates are Arizona and New Mexico, according to the report. If Colorado had followed the national trend, some 1,600 lives could have been saved, the study said, adding the opioid deaths represented a cost of roughly $18.3 billion. “While this number does not encompass the entire value of human life, it does indicate that lives lost due to fentanyl and other opioids red...
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Fentanyl Fuels Deadly Year in Denver Despite Major Drug Seizures

By Michael Braithwaite | The Denver Gazette Bundles of fentanyl pills seized by the Rocky Mountain Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration during an October operation that resulted in over 1 million seized pills. (Courtesy, DEA RMFD)      Fatal fentanyl overdoses in Denver rose by nearly 25% in 2025 to the second-highest total in the past half decade, according to preliminary data from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment. Within the city, 346 people died last year from fatal fentanyl doses, up from 277 the year before, which is second to only 2023 in the number of fatal fentanyl overdoses this decade, according to the data. The trend matched that of overall drug overdoses in the city, which rose from 4...
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Colorado Ballot Plan to Toughen Fentanyl Penalties Moves Forward
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Ballot Plan to Toughen Fentanyl Penalties Moves Forward

By Marissa Ventrelli | The Denver Gazette A proposed measure that would increase penalties for fentanyl manufacturing, distribution, and possession has collected enough signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot, following several failed attempts by the state legislature to pass similar legislation. Backed by Advance Colorado, the ballot initiative would make the sale of any amount of fentanyl a Class 1 felony, punishable by up to 32 years in prison. It would also mandate court-ordered substance use treatment for individuals convicted of possession of up to one gram of fentanyl. On Thursday, family members who lost loved ones to fentanyl overdoses joined legislators and law enforcement officers at Denver’s Ralph Carr Courthouse to announce that the initiative had gathered...
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DEA Seizure of 1.7 Million Fentanyl Pills Shocks Highlands Ranch Community
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

DEA Seizure of 1.7 Million Fentanyl Pills Shocks Highlands Ranch Community

By Heather Willard | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — A Highlands Ranch storage unit that was purchased during an auction turned into law enforcement’s largest seizure of fentanyl in Colorado history. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said that on Nov. 11, someone legally purchased a storage unit and when they opened it, found multiple items that appeared to be illegal. The purchaser contacted the sheriff’s office, and deputies and narcotics detectives quickly identified what the sheriff’s office described as a “massive quantity” of kilogram-sized packages and M-30 pills, which are counterfeit pills sold on the street containing fentanyl. After testing the pills, investigators confirmed they had seized: 198 kg of counterfeit fentanyl pills, which is about 1.7 million pills 1...
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Saving lives in schools: Naloxone access expands across Colorado
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Pew Charitable Trusts, Approved, State

Saving lives in schools: Naloxone access expands across Colorado

By Alexandra Duncan | Pew Charitable Trusts State Senator Cleave Simpson explains why making an opioid overdose reversal drug more available matters Despite declining drug overdose deaths in the U.S., opioids such as fentanyl are still driving most of these fatalities across the country. But naloxone is a lifesaving medication that can help. Any person, even those without medical training, can administer naloxone to someone in need and reverse an opioid overdose. As a farmer and rancher in rural Colorado, State Senator and Minority Leader Cleave Simpson—a Republican representing District 6, the southwest region covering Alamosa, Durango, Telluride, and other cities—knew the overdose crisis was taking a toll on his community. But when he joined the Colorado...
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How ballot initiatives play a role in Colorado policymaking
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

How ballot initiatives play a role in Colorado policymaking

By Colorado Politics For more than a century, Colorado voters have used the ballot box not just to elect leaders but also to make laws, shaping the state’s most defining policies through citizen-led initiatives. Those two avenues of policymaking — the first by legislators, the second by citizens — yet represent another point of tension that is inherent to America’s grand experiment in representative democracy. At times, it leads to reaction and counter-reaction, both within and outside the state Capitol. The threat of a ballot measure, for one, can prompt legislators to act. Indeed, some see the initiative process as a counterbalance to the Colorado legislature, serving as a check on state policymakers, at times overriding their will. Others prefer the legislative process, with...
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Coroner report: Fentanyl-linked deaths surge 41% in Boulder County first half of 2025
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Longmont Leader, Approved, Local

Coroner report: Fentanyl-linked deaths surge 41% in Boulder County first half of 2025

By Steven Middendorp | Longmont Leader Last week, the Office of the Boulder County Coroner released its 2025 biannual drug report for the first half of the year, from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025. Last week, the Office of the Boulder County Coroner released its 2025 biannual drug report for the first half of the year, from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025. The coroner’s office certified 171 deaths of the 1,206 deaths that occurred in Boulder County during this time range. Toxicology testing was conducted on 92 of these individuals and 73 were found to have a positive test for at least one drug with the majority having a positive test for multiple drugs. 33 of these deaths were caused by at least one drug according to the coroner’s report, which is 35.8 percent of the deceased ind...
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Burning Man event in Las Animas County cancelled over ‘non-consensual fentanyl drugging’ concerns
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Approved, KKTV CBS 11, Local

Burning Man event in Las Animas County cancelled over ‘non-consensual fentanyl drugging’ concerns

By Aaron Vitatoe | KKTV LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - A suspected attempted drugging involving fentanyl forced the cancellation of a Burning Man event in southern Colorado. Apogaea is a Burning Man-sanctioned event held every June in Colorado, according to their website. Over the weekend, they were set to hold their event in Las Animas County near Trinidad. As the weekend kicked off, though the Apogaea Board of Directors instructed everyone to leave the event, and asked anyone on the way to turn around, for safety reasons. On Sunday, they confirmed the reason for the cancellation was suspected non-consensual drugging involving fentanyl. They said, luckily, no one was dosed or physically harmed at the event, and no one needed medical attention. According to a post on Fa...
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ICE, FBI, DEA take down fentanyl ring in Colorado tied to Honduran nationals
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Approved, kdvr.com, State

ICE, FBI, DEA take down fentanyl ring in Colorado tied to Honduran nationals

By Heather Willard | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — Five people were indicted by a Colorado grand jury on charges of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado. The indictment for the case cites five incidents between June 24, 2024, and April 15, 2025, wherein officials alleged that the defendants had either 400 grams or 40 grams or more of fentanyl and were intending to sell it. The office identified the defendants and their charges in the case as: Exor Omar Villanueva Raudales, aka “Brian, 36 Two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl Two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl Alex Yubini Can...
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