The Fentanyl Measure won't fix the fentanyl crisis.
It will make it worse, and send Coloradans the bill.
The MAGA billionaire backers of the this measure want voters to believe that longer prison sentences will solve the fentanyl crisis. IT WON’T.
Here’s what the facts actually say
THE REAL COST OF the fentanyl measure
This measure won't help the fentanyl crisis. The extreme penalties in this measure will cost more lives. It will cost Colorado taxpayers at least $433 million to expand prisons while private prison corporations profit. And here's the catch: it doesn't provide a single dollar to pay for it.
That means Colorado families will be stuck with the bill through cuts to schools, healthcare, public transit, and other essential services, or higher taxes. At a time when Colorado is struggling to fund treatment and recovery, the Fentanyl Measure takes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and pours it into the prison industry.
This isn’t a solution. It's a blank check for thE private prison industry, and Colorado families pay the price.
New study projects increase in overdose deaths if fentanyl measure passes.
The extreme penalties in this measure will cost more lives. A recent expert study predicts a 41.3% increase in overdose deaths in Colorado over five years, if the measure passes.
+1,718
PROJECTED ADDITIONAL DEATHS
+41.3%
PROJECTED INCREASE OVER 5 YEARS
Passing the fentanyl measure means*:
900+
PEOPLE IN PRISON EACH YEAR, EVEN ACCIDENTAL FIRST-TIME OFFENDERS
$413k
TO BUILD ONE NEW PRISON CELL
$ 68K
PER PERSON, PER YEAR TO INCARCERATE THEM
$ 433M+
PROJECTED COST IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS
$0
ALLOCATED BY THE MEASURE TO PAY FOR ANY OF IT
↓
Less money for schools, healthcare, and other public services
↑
Higher taxes for you, because The Measure comes with no plan to pay for what it costs
*According to nonpartisan financial analysisWhat the Fentanyl Measure Actually Does:
It treats a teenager sharing a single pill the same as a major drug trafficker, with a mandatory prison sentence of 8 to 32 years – no exceptions.
It charges people with felonies even if they had no idea fentanyl was present or no money was exchanged. It rigidly removes a judge's ability to consider the circumstances when sentencing.
It strips the full legal immunity that currently protects Good Samaritans who call 911 during an overdose, replacing it with the possibility of criminal charges. Some bystanders will decide the risk isn't worth it. That decision will cost lives.
Instead of investing in treatment, it doubles down on incarceration.
It makes Colorado's overdose crisis worse, and forces our most vulnerable communities to pay the price.
the Fentanyl Measure
DOES NOT:
Does NOT increase penalties for high-level drug traffickers or dealers.
Does NOT expand access to treatment.
Does NOT provide new funding for recovery services.
Does NOT reduce overdose deaths, and will likely increase overdoses by 1,700 in the first five years alone.
The Fentanyl Measure PUNISHES THE WRONG PEOPLE
59%
OF COLORADANS PREFER PREVENTION OVER PRISONS
62%
OF COLORADANS DISAGREE WITH THE MEASURE’S LACK OF FUNDING THAT PUTS SCHOOLS AND HEALTHCARE AT RISK.
80%
OF COLORADANS AGREE THAT A TEENAGER SHARING ONE PILL SHOULD NOT FACE THE SAME SENTENCE AS A MAJOR DRUG TRAFFICKER.
The worst part?
It is going to siphon away budgets for essential services to do it, or increase taxes for every Coloradan.
WHAT REAL SOLUTIONS LOOK LIKE
Voting no on the Fentanyl Measure is not a vote to “do nothing.” It's a vote to demand laws that actually work, and funding to support them.
Real solutions target drug traffickers, not teenagers, people struggling with addiction, or those who never knew fentanyl was involved.
They expand treatment and recovery services, especially in rural Colorado, where too many families are still waiting for help that never comes.
Real solutions mean giving law enforcement, first responders, and treatment providers the tools and funding they actually need.
The Fentanyl Measure does none of that
Instead it punishes the wrong people.
It increases incarceration.
It puts more life at risk.
It leaves Coloradans with a bill they can't afford.
ALL WHILE PRIVATE PRISONS PROFIT.
VOTE NO ON
The Fentanyl Measure
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