Author: Gazette Editorial Board
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EDITORIAL: Fentanyl’s fate is in the Senate’s hands
It’s now the state Senate’s turn to save lives in Colorado’s epic fight against deadly fentanyl. The House had its chance — and blew it. House Bill 1326, approved by the lower chamber Monday, was supposed to repair the damage done to our state three years ago when lawmakers recklessly decriminalized possession of up to…
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EDITORIAL: Giving cover to fentanyl’s peddlers
The Colorado House’s vote on Friday to leave possession of the deadly opioid fentanyl a mere misdemeanor in our state was disgraceful. As the measure stands, all cops can do is write a ticket for possession of enough hyperlethal fentanyl to kill 500 people. It’s not even a slap on the wrist for someone who…
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EDITORIAL: Even ‘cowtown’ beats cannabis town
There was one upside to the pandemic’s disruption of public life — no “420” festival for two years. That’s the annual, open-air pot party in downtown Denver’s Civic Center Park, where thousands of revelers converge, brazenly light up — yes, it’s still illegal in public — and proceed to act out every stoner stereotype. Oh,…
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EDITORIAL: Another casualty of Colorado’s cancel culture
American Indian reservations face epic challenges: suicide and other mental health crises; substance abuse; unemployment and poverty; failing schools — the list goes on. All undermine everyday life on reservations, including in Colorado. So, you’d think the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs would be making headlines with efforts to address those perennial woes. Instead, it…
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EDITORIAL: A hedge against pot sales to kids
When the approval of Amendment 64 in 2012 opened the floodgates to legal marijuana sales in Colorado, it also opened a Pandora’s Box of unintended consequences. Among them is a host of regulatory shortcomings. In hindsight, it is now clear how woefully unprepared Colorado’s state and local governments were to serve as watchdogs over the…
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EDITORIAL: Colorado’s Camp Amache reveals sins of the past, brings enlightenment to the future
Last month marked the 80th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order to intern tens of thousands of Japanese Americans in 10 camps across six states. Here in Colorado, his action incarcerated the likes of a young boy named Ken Kitajima, who just a few years later, risked his life for the United States…
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EDITORIAL: As Colorado politicians dither, fentanyl is killing kids
Just in case Colorado lawmakers toiling at the Capitol missed the news this week: An arrest has been made in the case of a high school student in Colorado Springs who died in December from a fentanyl overdose at school. As of 2021, our state had suffered 1,578 fentanyl-related deaths since 2015. That’s a staggering…
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EDITORIAL: Small-town Colorado goes soft on crime
It’s not just our state’s metro areas that are reeling from rising crime. Far from the Front Range, small-town Coloradans, as well, are fed up with the state-sanctioned enablement of tried-and-true criminals. In southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley, residents of Alamosa are sharing heart-wrenching stories that amount to a testimonial of the real-world implications of…
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EDITORIAL: The myth of the victimless jailed addict
Sadly, there are people who squander their lives addicted to illegal drugs. Some started out dabbling in drugs and got lost. Others began using narcotics to control pain and got hooked. Their backstories are wide ranging, and they represent every race, ethnicity and social status. One thing most of them have in common, though, is…
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EDITORIAL: Will lawmakers cop out on fentanyl?
Colorado’s ruling Democrats are on a collision course with the public over crime. The public is frightened and fed up, and Democratic officeholders know it. But they are in a bind. They talk tough about the need for law and order, yet they can’t seem to break ranks with their party’s soft-on-crime fringe. So, they…