Colorado needs a data-driven approach to drug policy.
The Colorado Drug Policy Coalition (CODPC) advocates for drug policy based on science, guided by public health best practices, and rooted in the principles of harm reduction.
We are in the deadliest overdose crisis in history.
Every overdose death is a policy choice. Let’s stop making the same choices, and start doing what is proven to keep people alive.
5
Coloradans die every day from drug overdose (on average).¹
112,000
people died from drug overdose nationwide in 2023.² (That’s enough people to fill the Rockies Stadium twice.)
The number of drug-related deaths in the U.S. is higher than the next 20 countries combined.
THE WAR ON DRUGS IS OUT.
HARM REDUCTION IS IN.
Harm reduction is a practical, evidence-based approach to drug use aimed at empowering people who use drugs to live safer and healthier lives, while affirming the dignity, value, and autonomy of each person to make choices about their behavior.
Harm reduction meets people where they are at without judgment. It does not require them to reduce their substance use or be abstinent in order to receive respect, compassion, or services.
x
CODPC Advocates for:
1
Increasing comprehensive health and social services, especially housing and treatment services that engage people who use drugs.
2
Increasing efforts to reduce the harms of substance use, including robust and modern educational programs, programs for distributing supplies for safer drug use and overdose prevention centers.
3
Ensuring these services are part of a larger public health approach to drug use that respects the human rights of people who use drugs.
We can radically reverse the yearly exponential rise in deaths from overdose.
Let’s protect public health and safety, and bring social justice and equity to the forefront. Colorado can lead the way — but only if we make the outdated policies that are fueling this health crisis a thing of the past.