Colorado cities denied option of allowing overdose prevention centers
Sara Wilson
(Colorado Newsline) A bill that would have allowed cities in Colorado to authorize sites where people could use illicit drugs under supervision died in committee Wednesday afternoon.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee at the Colorado Legislature voted 6-3 to postpone House Bill 23-1202 indefinitely.
The bill was sponsored by Democratic Reps. Elisabeth Epps of Denver and Jenny Wilford of Northglenn in the House and by Democratic Sens. Julie Gonzales of Denver and Kevin Priola of Henderson in the Senate. It passed through the House with a comfortable margin in mid-March.
Both the House and Senate hold large Democratic majorities this session.
The bill was touted by harm reduction experts as one way cities could help prevent overdose deaths. They would have been allowed to authorize overdose prevention centers — sometimes referred to as safe use or supervised injection sites — where people could use drugs they illegally purchased. Trained medical professionals would be on standby to administer naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdose, at these sites.
Additionally, bill supporters said sites could become places for people who use drugs to connect with recovery programs and other services.
Opponents worried that such centers could “enable” drug use and would not address the root causes of addiction.
It would not have required any city to open an overdose prevention center, but would give cities the power to decide whether they want to allow them. It would be an “opportunity to have a discussion about whether overdose prevention centers are something that makes sense for their community,” Gonzales told committee members last Thursday.
The committee considered hours of testimony that day and was set to vote on the bill. When Democratic Sens. Joan Ginal of Larimer County and Kyle Mullica of Northglenn indicated they would vote against the bill — and it would therefore fail — Gonzales asked that the vote be delayed. Even though the vote had already been called, committee chair Sen. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat, granted that request.
It didn’t make a difference, however, as Mullica and Ginal both voted to postpone the bill when the committee picked it back up Wednesday. Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Littleton Democrat, also voted to postpone the bill despite expressing support for it.
Mullica said he struggled with the lack of parameters in the bill text. Cities would have been able to decide on their own rules and regulations.
“This is a conversation we should be having,” he said last week of harm reduction in general. “This is a difficult issue, and it’s an issue I was really torn on.” Mullica added, “I don’t think someone should die because they have a drug addiction. At the same time, I want to see what is going to be the most effective.”
The concept of local control and letting individual city governments make their own decisions has emerged as a central issue as the Legislature enters its final few weeks. A Senate committee killed another bill Tuesday that would have lifted a statewide preemption on rent stabilization and allowed cities to enact their own specific rent control policies. At the same time, however, a major housing bill was amended Wednesday morning to restore local control in the bill text.
The legislative session ends May 8.