fentanyl

Some Colorado families will see a reduction in federal food assistance this month. A temporary increase during the COVID-19 pandemic of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, ended officially on February 19. And a bill to add protections for overdose reporting cleared its first hurdle at the State Capitol yesterday.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has issued an executive order he says will help residents endure the nationwide shortage of baby formula. Governor Polis also signed a bill on Wednesday he says will prevent people from dying of fentanyl poisoning.

Colorado lawmakers are on the verge of passing a bill to address a spike in fentanyl overdose deaths. And the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is allocating 4 million dollars to fund habitat restoration across the state.

A bill aiming to prevent fentanyl overdoses barely survived its first test in the Colorado Senate. And Colorado health officials say a person working on a farm with infected poultry tested positive for avian influenza this week, but officials also say there is little risk to public health.

Opioids have been a problem in communities across the US for a long time now, but one specific opioid, fentanyl, is causing overdoses at an exponential rate. Some say prevention and addressing trauma are overlooked, but essential, strategies to curb the opioid crisis. On this week’s Health & Prevention Report, KSJD’s Lucas Brady Woods discusses with Katie McClure, the project facilitator for the Southwest Colorado Opioid Overdose Prevention Consortium.

Colorado lawmakers are unveiling a bipartisan bill they say will help prevent deaths from fentanyl. And the Ute Mountain Ute tribe has moved down on its COVID-19 risk scale.

Last week’s winter storm brought snowpack levels up to 85% of the seasonal median in the Dolores River Basin and the storm this weekend could bring levels up to 100% of the median. And law enforcement has detected a “particularly deadly” batch of the synthetic opioid Fentanyl circulating in San Miguel county.