Colorado Conversation to tackle the fentanyl crisis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (The Gazette) – Matt Riviere says he wakes up each morning in his home in Monument, activates a soothing salt lamp, and gazes at a photograph of him and his sons. The picture sits in an alcove subsequent to the fireside, the place the ornamental wood urns containing the ashes of A.J. and Stevie are on the fireplace.

The brothers died on July 26, 2021, at ages 21 and 19, after taking what they thought was OxyContin. The illicit drugs they ingested truly had been laced with fentanyl.

Fentanyl is so sturdy that 2 milligrams are probably deadly, in line with the Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse. To place that quantity in perspective, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar equals 3,450 milligrams.

“That is an epidemic,” Riviere informed Gazette reporter Debbie Kelley. “It’s not like this can be a little factor that’s going to go away. It’s all over the place.”

The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention introduced in December that fentanyl overdoses had grow to be the main reason behind demise for 18- to 45-year-olds nationally — since 2020, killing greater than COVID-19, automotive crashes, suicides, most cancers and gunshots mixed.

In response to this raging epidemic, The Colorado Springs Gazette and KKTV are internet hosting a Colorado Dialog on April 20 at 5 p.m. MDT at Centennial Corridor, 200 S. Cascade Ave. Eight consultants will reply your questions in regards to the disaster in Colorado, and what politicians and police are doing to cease the scourge.

The discussion board is sponsored by Diversus Well being, and you’ll register at gazette.com/dialog.

Our panel of consultants embody representatives from regulation enforcement, medication, dependancy counseling, training, the justice system and the El Paso Coroner’s Workplace.

They’re:

Michael Allen, 4th Judicial District Legal professional; Dr. David Steinbruner, chief medical officer for UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central and Memorial Hospital North; Adrian Vasquez, interim Colorado Springs police chief; Cory Notestine, director of counseling and wellness, Colorado Springs Faculty District 11; Joe Roybal, El Paso County undersheriff; Katie Blickenderfer, chief medical officer for Diversus; Randy Royal, Colorado Springs fireplace chief; and El Paso County Coroner Leon Kelly.

The dialog additionally will likely be livestreamed at gazette.com and kktv.com.

This disaster is hitting Colorado particularly arduous. Our state has the second-fastest-rising charge of overdose deaths from fentanyl within the nation. El Paso County noticed 102 fentanyl-related overdoses in 2021. Of these, 5 have been minors beneath age 18.

The variety of fentanyl-related deaths within the county has greater than doubled annually since 2017.

And it’s hitting dad and mom tougher than anybody.

Wanting on the picture of his sons on daily basis, it’s nonetheless tough for Riviere to consider they’re gone.

“I see the image and shake my head — that didn’t actually occur, I believe,” he stated.

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