Dear Editor,

My nephew purchased and injected heroin yet died of Fentanyl overdose. If he’d been in jail for only one of his crimes, he’d probably still be alive. ODs doubled in four years in Colorado, precisely coinciding with the passage of HB 19-1263 which decriminalized possession 4 grams of Class I/II drugs. Well done, Democrats.

Cartels market rainbow fentanyl pills with flavors to mimic candy and target children. In Colorado we have had kids OD in school at their desk, OD in their parents’ homes and “unhoused folks” OD in tents. Property crimes have soared and we have been repeatedly lied to about the severity of the data which move in lockstep – drugs and property crime. Can we hope for an end to this horror show?

I am running for HD 49, which includes parts of Larimer, Boulder, Clear Creek and Gilpin. It is a diverse area unified by concern for the state’s decline. People have been asked to endure many hardships during Covid lockdowns yet it revealed a great deal about our state; failing schools, unresponsive and unaccountable school boards, town councils and boards of health and state leaders. The data documenting the avalanche of catastrophes has been collected and ignored by Polis and the Democrat legislators at the capitol. We have been told not to believe our eyes – 1 in 5 children are obese and academic test scores have plunged.

The path forward is not more of the same but a rejection of more of the same. I will pass a Parents Bill of Rights, lock up repeat offenders including those carrying less than 4 grams of Class I/ II drugs because it is not compassionate to tolerate overdoses and addiction. I will expose the Polis “fees” and renew support for legacy industries including oil and gas. Let’s go Colorado.

Kathryn Lehr

Boulderaffordable