AURORA | Aurora City Council members agreed Monday to ask residents to vote against a statewide proposition that would impose minimum and mandated prison sentences for fentanyl users caught with the drug in their possession.
The measure to oppose Proposition 132 was approved 8-2 with some city lawmakers still insisting get-tough laws on drug use are called for.
“We have to recognize the seriousness of the fentanyl crisis,” Councilmember Angela Lawson said before voting against the resolution to oppose Prop 132. Councilmember Stephanie Hancock joined her in opposing the measure.
Hancock agreed that “we’ve been fighting a war on drugs for decades” across the country, primarily with laws mandating incarceration for users and sellers, but that “it doesn’t mean we stop enforcing the law.”
Proponents of the measure said fentanyl, like other drugs, is already covered under numerous state and federal criminal laws, but that incarcerating people for possessing even tiny amounts of the drug would do nothing to address the widespread fentanyl use and addiction crisis.
“We cannot incarcerate our way out of addiction,” Councilmember Alison Coombs said.
If voters in November approve Prop 132, possessing any quantity of the highly addictive street drug could net convicts a felony and come with a mandatory prison sentence of between 8 years and 32 years. Within the measure, some low-level offenders could be allowed court-ordered treatment in lieu of jail time.
Liberal and progressive city lawmakers point to prevailing research consensus showing that criminalizing drug addicts doesn’t reduce public use and abuse rates and complicates the already Herculean attempt to end abusers’ addiction.
“Decades of research from the ‘60s, and especially starting in the ‘80s, when we saw an increase of incarceration for drug-related offenses and crimes,” show that get-tough court mandates don’t work, Councilmember Gianina Horton said earlier.
Prop 132 was spearheaded by Advance Colorado, a conservative advocacy group that has the, which continues a streak of elevating ballot initiatives aligned with conservative and what it describes as a “tough-on-crime” approach to legislation.
Republicans who have backed the proposition, such as George Brauchler, district attorney for Douglas County and former DA for Arapahoe County, argue that a get-tough fentanyl sentencing approach will crack down on drug offenders and reduce the considerable Colorado usage of the drug.
While the number of Colorado residents who use fentanyl is unclear, fentanyl-related deaths have been climbing in the state, pushing past 1,800 in 2025, according to state health officials, marking a 13% increase over 2024.
At a press conference last year after the initiative made the ballot, Brauchler said, “… there’s going to be a ballot measure that does something we should have done years ago, and that is to have a low-to-no-tolerance policy when it comes to drug dealers who peddle fentanyl into our communities.”
Under current Colorado law, it’s a felony for someone to possess more than four grams of fentanyl or a compound containing fentanyl. If someone possesses less than four grams, but more than one gram of the same substance, they could be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony based on whether the individual knew they were in possession, and at court discretion.
Possession under a gram is a misdemeanor under current law.
Councilmember Francoise Bergan said she supports the idea of holding all users and especially distributors accountable with prison and jail time, but that Prop 132 was “so poorly written” that she could not support it.