Voices for Awareness | Facing Fentanyl
Raising Awareness in Our Communities
Voices for Awareness Foundation is a licensed and registered nonprofit organization
bringing awareness to illicit fentanyl, counterfeit drugs and elated to self-harm.

“A drug of mass destruction”: Fentanyl deaths surge in Colorado, reaching an average of two fatalities a day
A recent law that makes the possession of 4 grams or less of a “controlled substance listed in schedule I or II, a level 1 drug misdemeanor,” rather than a felony, is drawing criticism amid national conversations about fentanyl deaths.
“A drug of mass destruction”: Fentanyl deaths surge in Colorado, reaching an average of two fatalities a day
In 2018, an average of 9 Coloradans a month died of fentanyl overdose. In 2021, the monthly average is 64.
The eggs sat on the counter and the potatoes waited in the pan for a late-night brunch as Ashley Romero died.
She took half a pill that appeared to be a prescription painkiller offered to her by a trusted person. Romero had chronic pain her entire life from pancreatitis. When she was really hurting, she would sometimes take half a pill prescribed to her by her doctor.

Critics want fentanyl to be removed from 4 gram law
A recent law that makes the possession of 4 grams or less of a “controlled substance listed in schedule I or II, a level 1 drug misdemeanor,” rather than a felony, is drawing criticism amid national conversations about fentanyl deaths.HB19-1263, which went into effect in 2019, was a way of addressing the overcrowding effect in the state’s jails by switching minor drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors.
The average cost per inmate in Colorado was $39,303 as of 2015. As incarceration rates climbed, many being substance- related, some people felt that HB19-1263 would help to curb those growing incarceration numbers.
Proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month May 2019
Voices for Awareness founders Andrea Thomas & D’Ann Hopkins are presented with the May 2019 Proclamation from Mesa County for Mental Health Awareness Month L-R Mesa County Commissioner John Justman, Andrea Thomas, Mesa County Commissioner Rose Pugliese, D’Ann Hopkins & Mesa County Comissioner Scott McInnis
