Search the word “fentanyl” on The Gazette’s website; the results will alarm and sadden you. One news report after another chronicles the terrible toll the lethal drug has been taking on our citizens and especially on our youth.

“Man charged with murder for fentanyl overdose death of 16-year-old Lakewood girl”; “Colorado Springs man charged with selling fentanyl that resulted in a death”; “Fentanyl overdose deaths in Denver are skyrocketing, health officials warn” — the headlines make you flinch.

Amid a years-long crisis of opioid abuse in Colorado, fentanyl has surged to the forefront. Much of it manufactured in China, packaged in Mexico and then smuggled across the border for distribution throughout our country, the hyper-lethal narcotic has become a notorious killer.

The number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in the state skyrocketed more than 50% from 2019 to 2020, the latest year for which complete data is available. And as The Gazette recently reported, preliminary figures show fentanyl has been involved in more overdose deaths in 2021 than in any previous year — outpacing the combined totals from 2015 to 2019.

Depressing, right? Now, get ready to be angry.

Angry — not only at the cynical industrial complex in China that mass-produces the drug, or the fiendish crime syndicates in Mexico that control the supply chain — but also at our own legislature.

That’s right, the Colorado General Assembly has played a big role in aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl to our children.

Three years ago, lawmakers at the Capitol downgraded possession of Schedule I and Schedule II controlled substances, including fentanyl, from a felony to a misdemeanor. That means possession of up to four grams of fentanyl — the very same opioid that has been killing Colorado kids in epidemic proportions — now warrants no more than a ticket from police. Even though a mere two milligrams can kill you.

The damage lawmakers did doesn’t stop there. The 2019 legislation that effectively decriminalized possession of super-lethal amounts of fentanyl — did the same for the likes of heroin, cocaine and a host of other hard drugs. Yes, meth, too.

The net effect of the law? Ask any cop. Our state’s peace officers are being waved off with a smirk by drug peddlers brazenly plying their trade in public places. They know they only will get a summons for possessing a lethal amount of hard drugs, including fentanyl.

Don’t forget those dealers also typically lead criminal lives in general. It’s not like they have day jobs as schoolteachers and just do a little freelancing on the side; drug dealing is their livelihood. They often have lengthy criminal records, including for violent crimes.

Yet, the police can’t even arrest them for possessing enough fentanyl to kill nearly 2,000 people. Thanks to our elected lawmakers.

The legislative handiwork that resulted in this absurd outcome, HB19-1263, was one of many misfires by the “justice reform” movement. Its advocates seem to think we’re too tough on criminals. The very notion seems absurd in the face of the epic crime wave that now has engulfed Colorado.

The bill’s prime sponsors — Reps. Leslie Herod of Denver and Shane Sandridge of Colorado Springs, Sen. Pete Lee of Colorado Springs, and former Sen. Vickie Marble of Fort Collins — owe the state an apology for the most misguided legislation in years.

Meanwhile, the entire legislature owes it to Colorado to repeal this deadly law now.