Fentanyl Accountability And Prevention

The bill makes the unlawful possession of any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs more than 4 grams and contains any amount of fentanyl, carfentanal, or an analog thereof a level 4 drug felony.

The bill creates an exemption to the unlawful possession of a controlled substance offense for employees, agents, or volunteers of certain agencies who are in possession of the controlled substance, including fentanyl, carfentanal, or an analog thereof, for the purpose of safe disposal of the controlled substance.

The bill makes the unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale of a material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing fentanyl, carfentanal, or an analog thereof:

• A level 1 drug felony if it weighs more than 50 grams;
• A level 2 drug felony if it weighs more than 4 grams, but not more than 50 grams; and
• A level 3 drug felony if it weighs not more than 4 grams.

The bill makes it a level 1 drug felony if the defendant unlawfully distributed, manufactured, dispensed, or sold a material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing fentanyl, carfentanal, or an analog thereof, and a person died as a proximate cause of using or consuming it.

The bill makes a defendant a special offender, making them subject to a level 1 drug felony, if:

• The defendant introduced or imported into Colorado any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs more than 4 grams and contains fentanyl or carfentanal; or
• The defendant unlawfully distributed, manufactured, dispensed, or sold a material, compound, mixture, or preparation containing fentanyl or carfentanal, and the defendant possessed pill or tablet manufacturing equipment with the intent to use the equipment in the manufacture of a controlled substance.

For certain offenses, the bill requires a court to order placement in a residential treatment facility for treatment of an addiction that includes fentanyl, carfentanal, or an analog thereof as a condition of probation if recommended pursuant to a substance abuse assessment. Furthermore, for certain offenses, a court is required to order a fentanyl education class, which is developed by the office of behavioral health.

The bill expands the list of eligible entities that are eligible for standing orders to receive opiate antagonists.

The bill creates immunity from civil liability for certain persons who or entities that act in good faith to furnish a non-laboratory synthetic opiate detection test to another person.

The bill requires a jail, upon release, to provide opiate antagonists and prescribe medication for an opiate use disorder to certain persons.

The bill requires community corrections programs to assess individuals residing in the programs for substance use withdrawal symptoms and develop protocols for medical detoxification monitoring, medication-assisted treatment, and other appropriate withdrawal management care.

The bill permits the correctional treatment board to direct money in the correctional treatment cash fund for drug overdose prevention, opiate antagonists, and non-laboratory synthetic opiate detection tests.

The bill permits a school district board of education, the charter school institute, or governing board of a nonpublic school to adopt and implement a policy to permit a school to acquire and maintain non-laboratory synthetic opiate detection tests and furnish them on school grounds.

For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the bill requires the appropriation of $20 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the opiate antagonist bulk purchase fund.

For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the bill requires the appropriation of $300,000 to the department of public health and environment for the purchase and distribution of non-laboratory synthetic opiate detection tests to eligible entities.

The bill requires the department of public health and environment to develop and implement a statewide fentanyl prevention and education campaign.

The bill expands the types of entities that are eligible for a harm reduction grant and the permissible uses of the grant funds. For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the bill requires the appropriation of $6 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the harm reduction grant program cash fund.

The bill requires a jail that receives funding through the jail-based behavioral health services program to develop protocols for medication-assisted treatment and withdrawal management care and develop and implement a policy that describes the provision of medication-assisted treatment to individuals upon release. For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the bill requires the appropriation of $3 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund for these purposes.

The bill requires each managed service organization to evaluate current supply and necessary demand within its region for certain harm reduction and treatment services and report their findings to the general assembly.

The bill requires the legislative services agencies of the general assembly to perform a post-enactment review of certain criminal provisions 3 years following the act becoming law.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)