Westword recently covered supervised use sites (“Out of Site,” January 24) in a feature story that looked at the leaders behind the push for such sites in Denver — where an ordinance allowing them passed Denver City Council in November — and across Colorado.
Some of the individuals in our story, including Lisa Raville of the Harm Reduction Action Center (Colorado's largest syringe access program) and Joelle Fairchild (a mother who lost her son to a heroin overdose in 2014), were at the Capitol to share their support for supervised use sites on Monday.

Joelle Fairchild with a portrait of her son Tony next to the tree where he passed away.
Jake Holschuh
But Pettersen says that the bill could be delayed past the current legislative session, which ends in May, contradicting the assumptions of many lawmakers in Denver who thought such a bill would be introduced during the current session.
“We still have a lot of educating to do,” Pettersen said at the Capitol today, adding that opposition has been intense, particularly from radio station KNUS.
“There are right-wing talk-radio hosts who are trying to perpetuate fear and misinformation," she explained. "I never listen to it; I just know it's happening. But what really upsets me are the videos [KNUS took in Vancouver] of people who are suffering. They're trying to use it as the face of what people should be scared of instead of trying to build empathy and understanding."

Senator Brittany Pettersen and Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks are fighting for supervised use sites at the state and local levels.
Jake Holschuh
While Pettersen could not say whether she and Priola will introduce a bill that includes supervised use sites before the current legislative session ends in May, she acknowledged that she expects the process to go differently than last February, when she tried to introduce a supervised site bill under the Republican-controlled senate. Since the November election, the political makeup of the Statehouse has changed, with Democrats now controlling both houses.
“One difference is that this year we will have a chance for a fair hearing," she says. "It won't be sent to a kill committee.”