Denver Heroin Sites Bill Pulled
Rep. Garnett Blames Albus Brooks And Denver For Stunning Defeat
by Glen Richardson
In a stunning reversal of fortune, the sponsors of the so-called Safe Injection Sites (“SIS”) bill was dropped by its sponsors — House Majority Leader Alec Garnett and State Senator Brittany Pettersen. The proposed but never introduced bill would have, in effect, made heroin sales and use legal at and around designated sites, including 231 East Colfax by the State Capitol. At the SIS centers would be medical personnel to administer naloxone or other drugs which would revive a heroin user from overdoses, including where fentanyl is added to the heroin.
The SIS centers would also allow injection of methamphetamines and other drugs, including what is known as a “speed ball” where methamphetamines and heroin are mixed together. The bill was promoted as being “compassionate” to heroin users and limiting the harm incurred by users. Critics said the bill was little more than a backdoor method to legalize heroin and meth sales and use which critics say has been a long-sought goal of Mexican drug cartels who supply most of the heroin/ meth to Denver and the state.
Garnett Attacks Denver
State House Majority Leader Alec Garnett pointed the finger at Denver and City Councilman Albus Brooks for the loss. “I think Denver kind of wanted to be the first city in the country,” Garnett stated, “but I think the eagerness drew a lot of negative attention from the public, from the U.S. attorney and the feds.”
Councilman Brooks was the lead person on the Denver push. He brought Harm Reduction Action Center head Lisa Raville before the City Council. He obtained City Council approval by a 12 to 1 vote with only Kevin Flynn voting against the proposal. However, the approval of one or more SIS centers in Denver was made subject to approval of the State Legislature.
Brooks Responds
Brooks, in turn, blamed 710 KNUS radio host (and Chronicle columnist) Peter Boyles who, along with fellow radio host Stephan Tubbs, went to Vancouver, Canada, to see how SIS was working in that city which had approved them in 2003. The two broadcast live from Vancouver and posted pictures and videos of what they found along East Hastings Street which once had been a historic portion of Vancouver analogous to Larimer Square.
Radio Hosts In Vancouver
The descriptions and photographs painted a horrific picture of masses of heroin and meth users all along Hastings and adjoining streets. The Central American drug soldiers, they reported, controlled the streets and openly sold their wares to one and all. The SIS center was not cheerful and clean but a place of misery and pain, they reported. Many users did not bother to go into the SIS center itself, but simply shot up in the alleys and along the sidewalks. The addicts came to East Hastings Street they indicated not for the SIS center but because heroin and other drugs could be bought and consumed without fear of interruption or arrest.
Tubbs described one addict on the floor of the SIS center while his girlfriend jammed needles in his neck attempting to find a vein as the vein system in other parts of his body had apparently failed to be available.
The personnel at the SIS center told the two that they did not try to get heroin and other users into rehab as it would cause them to feel stigmatized and less likely to frequent the SIS center.
Brooks indicated that the live broadcasts had caused a groundswell of opposition to the SIS bill at the State Capitol. Brooks tweeted out: “Radio Hosts don’t have evidence. Last time I checked that’s not the truth.” Brooks claimed that he had been to Vancouver and saw nothing of the sort when he visited. It is not clear whether he was claiming the pictures and videos were somehow doctored or that he had been given a phony “Potemkin Village” tour of East Hastings and Vancouver.
Checks of Brooks’ expense records, according to former Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, show no expenses whatsoever concerning any trip to Vancouver. That fact could indicate he never, in fact, went to Vancouver, or his plane, hotel and other expenses were paid by third parties which could be illegal.
Pettersen’s Viewpoint
Interestingly co-sponsor State Senator Brittany Pettersen refused to appear with Garnett at his news conference and instead held her own conference. Insiders indicate that there is, in fact, a growing rift between Pettersen and Garnett. They indicate that Garnett, by blaming Denver and Brooks, was indirectly criticizing Pettersen’s husband, Ian Silverii, the executive director of ProgressNow Colorado, who had helped behind the scenes with the Denver rollout of the SIS legislation.
Supporters of Silverii think Garnett’s criticism of Denver and by implication Silverii and Brooks is badly misplaced. They point out that Silverii had obtained highly favorable coverage for SIS in The Denver Post, Westword, 5280 magazine, 630 KHOW radio and many other media outlets. Many others credit him with turning Channel 9 news anchor Kyle Clark into a very strong supporter of SIS centers and its failure is seen by many as a black mark on Clark’s record and reputation.
Pettersen in her news conference did not put the blame on Denver and by implication Brooks and Silverii but rather on Patrick Neville, the Republican Minority Leader of the House.
“This got caught up in the fact that Democrats hold every chamber, and there are desperate attempts to try to regain power,” Pettersen said. “This has been chosen as a political top target.”
She went on to note, “I’m unwilling to give them a political platform.”
Pettersen acknowledged that she needed no Republican votes and even had a Republican sponsor for her bill, Kevin Priola. She had, however, lost her own Democratic caucus.
The Fight Continues
The supporters of SIS centers are not going to simply disappear. An enormous amount of money was expended to promote the SIS legislation in Denver and at the Capitol and the financial backers are apparently not pleased. They are reportedly putting an enormous amount of pressure on Albus Brooks, Ian Silverii and Lisa Raville to figure out some way to legalize, directly or indirectly, heroin/meth sales in Denver by this summer.
Raville has told the press “It’s not May 4th yet. We certainly aren’t giving up the fight. We continue to look forward. We know this is the gold-standard evidence-based intervention that we want to push forward with.” May 4th is the last day of the Colorado legislative session and bills such as the “hospital provider fee” bill have been introduced and passed even at the very end of the legislative calendar.
Brooks in turn has tweeted out, “Denver will find a way to address this Public Health Crisis with or without the State.”
Opponents including Patrick Neville have indicated that they “will be there” to battle heroin legalization wherever the fight may be.
