April 11, 2024
El Paso County Board of Health opposes Colorado House Bill 24-1028
El Paso County, CO – At a special session on April 11, 2024, the El Paso County Board of Health unanimously opposed House Bill 24-1028.
At the special session Board of Health meeting, board members discussed Colorado House Bill 24-1028 (“HB24-1028”), titled “Local Control of Life-saving Overdose Prevention Centers Act,” which is currently being considered in the Colorado General Assembly 2024 legislative session. This bill recently passed out of the House and will next be considered by the Senate. If passed, the bill would amend Section 31-15-906, C.R.S., and would allow the governing body of any municipality to authorize the operation of an overdose prevention center within its boundaries.
HB24-1028 provides no role for local boards of health or public health agencies in the approval or oversight of overdose prevention centers, nor does it outline or require the development of specific criteria for the location and operation of these centers. If passed by the Colorado General Assembly in the 2024 legislative session, it could lead to inconsistent public health practices between municipalities within the same community.
Proponents of overdose prevention centers claim that establishing such centers results in the prevention of drug overdoses. However, El Paso County Board of Health member General Jack Briggs, noted data out of Canada expressed “that instead of overdoses going down, they are going up as these sites continue to be used in Canada.” He notes that overdose centers perpetuate “the situation that [individuals] happen to be in from an official level, which is again consigning someone to a very deadly practice with no real pathway out.”
Citing insufficient evidence that overdose centers decrease overdoses, transition to treatment and/or a reduction in crime, the El Paso County Board of Health opposes the current draft of HB24-1028 and urges state lawmakers to reject amendments to Section 31-15-906, C.R.S. Read the full resolution here.
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