Gov. Jared Polis, who seeks reelection, and Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee, clashed over fentanyl deaths during a debate on Sunday, with the Democrat claiming a middle-of-the-pack ranking for Colorado and the challenger arguing the state sits near the top of the charts.
So, who is correct?
Based on the phrasing each candidate used, they both are.
The argument seems to stem from a miscommunication, with Polis and Ganahl discussing different data sets.
In one of the most heated moments of the debate, the two candidates interrupted and spoke over one another too much to realize Ganahl was talking about increases in fentanyl deaths, while Polis was discussing fentanyl deaths overall.
Here’s how it played out:
“We’re second-highest in fentanyl increase in deaths in the country, you think you’re doing a good job with fentanyl? It’s poisoning our kids,” Ganahl said.
“This is a national plague,” Polis responded. “We’re 26th, to be clear, in fentanyl deaths, but that is not something to be proud of.”
“No, we’re second highest in the increase of fentanyl deaths in the country,” Ganahl insisted.
“We’re 26th in fentanyl deaths,” Polis replied. “Last time you said that it was corrected on television by a fact-checker who said we were 26th. I mean, you can say whatever you want, but the truth matters.”
Though Polis and Ganahl were arguing about different data sets, both of their numbers were mostly correct.
When saying Colorado had the second-highest increase in fentanyl deaths, Ganahl was referring to a February report from the nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl, which found that Colorado’s uptick in fentanyl deaths ranked second in the country from 2019 to 2021. Only Alaska’s numbers were worse.
When analyzing data from 2015 to 2021, the same report ranked Colorado 8th for increased deaths and 29th for total deaths.
In addition, Colorado currently ranks 19th nationally for annual fentanyl death increases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent provisional data shows Colorado’s deaths from synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, rose 13.8% from May 2021 to May 2022 — significantly higher than the 6.7% national average, but far off from the actual second highest of 29.8%.
Regarding overall fentanyl deaths, Polis’s 26th ranking came from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s most recent report using data from 2020. The report placed Colorado at 26th most deaths – at 590 – from synthetic opioids in the U.S.
The CDC’s most recent provisional data from May ranks Colorado slightly higher at 24th for 2022, estimating 1,910 deaths. But when controlling for population, Colorado has the 29th highest rate of synthetic opioid overdose deaths, according to a CDC report using 2020 data.
Fentanyl has become a key issue in the 2022 election, particularly given the spike opioid-related deaths and the debate over the state’s response to the crisis. The Colorado legislature passed a bill in 2019 that reduced criminal penalties for possession of certain amounts of fentanyl, then passed another bill this year that restored felony charges under certain thresholds.
Fentanyl is a cheap, synthetic opioid that, according to the CDC, is up to 100 times stronger than morphine. Fentanyl is increasingly being mixed into other drugs such as cocaine and meth, with experts saying virtually every street drug now contains at least some fentanyl. The 2022 bill was inspired, in part, by the overdose deaths of five Commerce City residents in February — believed to be the largest fentanyl overdose at a single setting in the U.S. at the time.
The bipartisan-backed bill, signed into law by Polis, was criticized by legislators on both sides of the aisle for both going too far and not going far enough.
Ganahl has pledged to make it a felony to possess any amount of fentanyl if elected.
Sunday’s debate was sponsored by the Denver Gazette, the Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Politics, KOAA News5 and the El Pomar Foundation’s Forum for Civic Advancement.
