As legislative Democrats in Colorado – led by Colorado House Speaker Alec Garnett – refuse to reverse a 2019 law that decriminalized under 4 grams of fentanyl, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Department announced yesterday a bag of suspected fentanyl pills was found on a playground in Dotsero, Colorado.
The amount of suspected fentanyl found on the playground and described in news reports remains decriminalized under legislation Speaker Alec Garnett voted for in 2019.
KDVR News in Denver reports on the troubling news:
According to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, a homeowner found a small plastic bag where young children play in the Two Rivers Village housing community in Dotsero. It contained eight blue pills carrying markings consistent with recently confiscated tablets that look like oxycodone.
Letters on the bag read “210,” and each of the pills within was stamped with an “M” on one side and a “30” on the other. Upon observing these details, deputies felt they appeared similar to counterfeit versions of the popularly prescribed medication known as “M30.”
Just exactly what these pills are made of at this point has yet to be determined, but recently confiscated blue pills from other cases that underwent testing revealed that they contained the highly potent and deadly synthetic opioid known as fentanyl.
In a recent interview with Colorado Public Radio, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said that just under four grams of fentanyl is about 35-39 pills:
But in an earlier interview with CPR News, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said that he knew of dealers across the city who have made it a practice to carry just under 4 grams — or typically 35 to 39 pills — because they knew they likely wouldn’t face jail time if caught.
“They’ve figured this out,” he said at the time. “The leverage that is necessary to address the low-level dealer has been removed … Please tell me what prosecutor takes felonies and misdemeanors and treats them the same because that’s where the point is being missed.”