The fight against fentanyl overdose in Colorado is failing. After years of declining rates, Common Sense Institute reports Colorado’s overdoses are increasing while the national average is decreasing. Colorado has outpaced all but two states, increasing overdose deaths by 17% over the last two years. This alarming trend shows the state must act before the crisis becomes too big to fix. 

Colorado voters are recognizing this crisis through Ballot Initiative 85, which would classify all fentanyl-related offenses as Level 1 drug felonies, regardless of circumstances or the amount possessed. The goal of this initiative is to discourage further fentanyl trafficking and to hold offenders accountable.  

However, Colorado is presented with the unique opportunity to build upon Initiative 85 by aiming to decrease overdoses before individuals are even at risk. This problem starts with tackling addiction. Addiction is driven by demand as much as supply. Increasing prison sentences won’t reach and address why people become addicted or prevent new users from entering the cycle. Colorado needs a balanced strategy, looking to reduce addiction while equally helping those already struggling. Initiative 85 is a good start, but to solve the fentanyl crisis, Colorado needs both the carrot and the stick, not just the stick.  

Success is found through accountability and treatment paired with prevention and education.  

For people already trapped by fentanyl addiction, treatment offers the path to recovery. However, not all are willing to receive the available help they need. It’s not that treatment doesn’t work; people are often just unwilling to choose it. Many people don’t seek help voluntarily and they waste their own chance at recovery.  

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports only 34,000 (2%) of 1.5 million adolescents across the country who are likely to need treatment for substance use sought out treatment. This shows a problem across all states and substances either because they don’t believe treatment is needed or just aren’t ready to stop.  

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that treatment doesn’t need to be voluntary to be effective. Sometimes, legally mandated and enforced treatment can be even more effective, with NIDA studies showing reduced drug use and lowered recidivism among court-supervised treatment participants. Initiative 85 would strengthen this, acting as the spur to get more addicts into treatment. Drug courts are incredibly useful in creating practical compromises between punishment and treatment, often reducing legal sentences through successful completion, which incentivizes rehabilitation and restoration.  

Penalties are necessary. However, they need to be combined with education and outreach, aiming to reduce addiction. Right now, Colorado’s main approach is through treating addiction, such as investing in overdose response by expanding naloxone (brand name Narcan) access. While lifesaving, it’s a temporary fix and intervenes after addiction has already taken hold. 

Instead, the approach should start with effective prevention before addiction, through awareness outreach and education. This would help individuals understand the realities of fentanyl before ever encountering it, rather than by bringing awareness only by Narcan access. State government shouldn’t normalize fentanyl use but discourage it, not because of ethicality, but because of the blatant dangers it presents.  

The University of Washington reports adolescents underestimate their own opioid addiction risk, believing dependency to fentanyl happens to others, not themselves. This is a misconception, showing individuals don’t know what fentanyl really is. The Centers for Disease Control has already taken the approach of shifting messaging to awareness of counterfeit pills. Most people are buying what they think is Xanax, Percocet or Adderall and getting a counterfeit pill containing fentanyl. They’re not seeking out fentanyl. 

There is an extreme danger in unknowing fentanyl use, and it can become life-altering, as well as life-ending. These prevention efforts should be brought in early on to correct these misconceptions before first use so addiction can be reduced meaningfully. 

Initiative 85 is an important and necessary step toward solving Colorado’s fentanyl crisis, and its momentum should not be taken for granted. Lasting change should require more than just stronger penalties. Through enforced treatment, harsher penalties and preventative education and outreach, Colorado can reduce addiction before it begins, help those already struggling and better protect families from one of the deadliest drugs our state has ever faced. 

Isaac Flores is a CSI Daniels Scholar Junior Fellow and a junior studying marketing at Liberty University with a minor in film production. He is currently a research intern for Common Sense Institute and is researching public safety and sports economy.