By Rebecca Gvozden
Published: Apr. 29, 2025 at 12:36 PM CDT
Read the article and watch the video on the KKTV 11 News Website.
Porch Light Health’s Steve Carleton spoke with KKTV News about reduced fentanyl death rates in Colorado and nationwide on Fentanyl Awareness Day.
KKTV 11
Fentanyl Awareness Day. It’s a highly dangerous drug that’s taking the lives of many. We’ve learned that the number of overdose deaths has actually gone down. Our love news reporter, Rebecca Gvozdenit’s gone down by 28% across the nation is in the studio with those statistics. Rebecca.
Rebecca Gvozden
Eric and Sophie, Porch Light Health and Addiction Treatment Center told me that fentanyl overdose deaths in Colorado has actually gone down by 13. 9%, and across the nation, it’s gone down by 28%. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s used in hospitals and emergency settings, typically to help patients with severe pain after surgery. But for illegally-manufactured fentanyl, there’s no idea about the potency or how much fentanyl is really in those counterfeit pills. And according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, 42% of pills that they tested for fentanyl contained at least 2 milligrams, and that’s considered a potentially deadly dose. Even though porcelain health says they’re expecting the number of fentanyl overdose deaths to go down in 2025, and that we, as a nation, are making progress, it’s still important to spread the message on how dangerous these illicit substances can be. They told me the two most One of the most important ways in which they fought to get those number of deaths down was through medication for addiction treatment and NARCAN, a medication that reverses the effects of an overdose death.
Steve Carleton
In Colorado last year, we were able to get 16,000 doses of NARCAN out into the hands of the public. What people need to know about that is if you’re carrying NARCAN, you’re not the one that’s going to use it on yourself.
Rebecca Gvozden
We’ll have more on how fentanyl became a crisis that really hit the streets coming up in the next 30 minutes. Reporting in studio, I’m Rebecca Gvozden. Back to you, Eric and Sophie.
KKTV 11
All right.
