Prop 132 sounds pretty simple: Fentanyl is killing people. Get tougher on fentanyl. Seems straightforward. Then you actually read the measure. And holy mandatory minimum, Batman. Prop 132 makes distributing ANY amount of fentanyl a Level 1 drug felony. Sentence: 8 to 32 YEARS. Mandatory. Not just trafficking 50 grams. Not just running a drug operation. Selling it. Transferring it. Sharing it. Any amount. And here’s an important detail: Colorado measures the weight of the entire substance containing fentanyl, not simply the amount of fentanyl inside it. Possession gets tougher too. Under 1 gram becomes a felony, although successful court-ordered treatment can knock it back down to a misdemeanor. Possessing 1–4 grams can mean 2–4 years in prison. But the part I think voters really need to understand is what happens to judicial discretion. Under Prop 132, judges lose the ability to consider some mitigating circumstances, including whether someone reasonably believed the substance didn’t even contain fentanyl. That’s a pretty damn important distinction when fentanyl routinely shows up mixed into other drugs. Then there’s the Good Samaritan provision. Right now, someone involved in a low-level drug distribution situation who calls 911 during an overdose and stays to help can qualify for reduced penalties. Prop 132 removes that protection for fentanyl distribution. So imagine this: Two people use drugs together. One overdoses. The other knows calling 911 could potentially expose them to a mandatory 8-year prison sentence. Maybe you still think that’s the right policy. But voters deserve to know that’s part of the deal. And we’re going to pay for it. Colorado’s nonpartisan fiscal analysts estimate roughly $141.6 MILLION in added prison operating costs over five years. By 2030-31, the state could have roughly 1,000 additional people in prison because of this measure. If Colorado needs to build enough additional prison capacity? Potential price tag: Up to $422.5 million. Now, there is absolutely a legitimate argument for Prop 132. Fentanyl is extraordinarily dangerous. People knowingly trafficking it should face serious consequences. I’m not going to sit here pretending somebody moving fentanyl by the truckload deserves a sternly worded pamphlet and community service. But here’s my problem: Prop 132 doesn’t just hammer the cartel-level dealer. It deliberately removes distinctions between radically different situations. The guy moving kilos? Eight-year minimum. The person transferring a tiny amount? Eight-year minimum. The person who reasonably didn’t know fentanyl was in the substance? Much less room for the judge to care. And research on mandatory minimums has repeatedly found that making punishment more severe isn’t nearly as effective at deterrence as making it more certain. So the real question isn’t: “Is fentanyl bad?” Of course it fucking is. The question is: Does giving virtually every fentanyl distributor an 8–32 year mandatory sentence actually make Colorado safer enough to justify the collateral damage and hundreds of millions in prison costs? That’s the question Prop 132 asks. And that’s a hell of a lot more complicated than: “Fentanyl bad. Prison good.” Read the fine print. #ColoradoPolitics #Prop132