Denver Overdose Watch (@Denver_overdose) header
Denver Overdose Watch (@Denver_overdose) profile picture

Independent public data on overdose deaths in Denver. Every number sourced. Aggregates only.

Denver, CO
Joined October 2026
Photo by Denver Overdose Watch (@Denver_overdose)
If a serial killer took one Denver life every day, it would be everyone's top priority. Overdoses killed 376 Denver residents in 2025, about one a day (CDC, provisional). Democrats in charge don't care, so they keep doing nothing. Yes on Prop 132. denveroverdose.com
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Drug-related deaths in Denver rose from 370 in 2020 to 562 in 2025, up 52% (Denver Medical Examiner, preliminary). Mandatory treatment is the compassionate plan, and Prop 132 requires it for small fentanyl possession. A better life is possible. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Opioids were involved in 403 drug-related deaths in Denver in 2025, up 31% from 307 in 2024 (Denver Medical Examiner, preliminary). Treatment can change lives. Prop 132 makes it mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Drug-related deaths in Denver hit 598 in 2023, fell to 483 in 2024, then rose to 562 in 2025 (Denver Medical Examiner, preliminary). The dip didn't hold, but a better path is possible: Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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We lose a member of our Denver community every single day due to overdose Yes on 132 Denveroverdose.com
Colorado’s stuck in the same cycle as the addicts frozen on our sidewalks. NGOs keep handing out foil, pipes, and no-strings attached housing while deeply addicted individuals stay locked in place—alive but not living—because no one is willing to intervene. Prop 132 is the intervention. It creates a real path into treatment. Vote YES on 132. Post by DoBetterDNVR and not authorized by any candidate or committee.
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Meth was involved in 303 drug-related deaths in Denver in 2025, nearly double the 159 in 2020 (Denver Medical Examiner, preliminary). Recovery is possible. Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Denveroverdose.com A member of our Denver Community dies from overdose every single day. Every. Single. Day. Vote yes on prop 132
ALERT: #DPD is conducting an outdoor death investigation in the 1100 block of 13th St. The #Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will determine cause of death. We will only update this post if the status of this investigation changes to a homicide.
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Cocaine was involved in 194 drug-related deaths in Denver in 2025, up 56% from 124 in 2024 (Denver Medical Examiner, preliminary). Recovery is possible. Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Denver Overdose Watch retweeted
The @nytimes said Denver solved homelessness. Two days later, @kevinvdahlgren went there, interviewed people still outside the system, and walked into the drainage tunnels. Here’s what he learned: Clearing tents, reducing visible homelessness, and achieving lasting stability are three different things. A city can make its streets look dramatically better while its most vulnerable residents disappear underground or into hotel rooms / apartments. Homelessness doesn’t end just because it gets harder to see. The city spent money we don’t have and barely any of the people in the programs are actually stable. They’re just going to be an infinite drain on the system and taxpayer resources forever. Spending more, expanding nonprofits, and clearing camps are activity, not accomplishment. The real test is lasting stability, not how many people are moved out of sight. Without honest outcome measurements, we’re just building a more expensive system that looks busy while the core problems continue. Subscribe to Kevin’s Substack: truthonthestreets.substack.c…
Recently, The New York Times shared Denver had a fix to ending homelessness. Two days after it was published, I went there myself to investigate. What I found was glaring problems not mentioned in the article. truthonthestreets.substack.c… (please share this)
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In 2025, Denver Health spent $1.9M of its 2Q sales tax money on substance-use services (Denver Health 2Q report). Treatment can change lives. Prop 132 makes it mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#spending
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Denver recorded 137 deaths involving fentanyl from January to May 2026 (DDPHE overdose dashboard, preliminary). Each was someone who could have recovered. Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Every day someone dies from an overdose
Benedict Fountain Park. This is the scene right across the street from a park where kids play. Denver keeps choosing to enable drug use over actual recovery and safe public spaces. @denversmayor
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This is insanity We can’t live like this
While Denver residents keep overdosing and dying, DA John Walsh is weighing “collateral consequences”, specifically to protect non-citizens from removal. Same charges, different outcomes based on immigration status. American citizens don’t get that break. Exhibit A: Edith Waleska Barahona-Cruz (#24CR03412). Barahona-Cruz was arrested 6/11/24 and charged with: 💊 Drug Felony 1 (possession with intent of >50 grams of fentanyl, mandatory 8–32 years with no probation) 💊 Drug Felony 2 (possession with intent of meth/heroin/ketamine/cocaine) 💊 Drug Felony 3 (possession with intent to distribute Schedule I/II substances) 👶 Misdemeanor child abuse. All of the drug felonies were DISMISSED and Barahona-Cruz pled to criminal mischief and misdemeanor assault and got two years probation. This is the pattern in Denver courts. Illegal immigrant dealers charged with trafficking get pleas to unrelated offenses like criminal mischief because those carry fewer immigration consequences. A DF1 conviction for that amount of fentanyl with intent is both mandatory prison and an aggravated felony under immigration law, near-automatic deportation. Those charges vanished. DEA Rocky Mountain Special Agent in Charge David Olesky has said cartel members themselves call Colorado “un santuario.” They know a federal arrest means real consequences. A state arrest often does not, because immigration status is treated as a reason to go soft instead of a reason for removal. Soft deals that shield illegal immigrant dealers from prison and deportation only reinforce exactly what the cartels already believe about Denver. If the office had the evidence to charge fentanyl trafficking, the public deserves to know why the final conviction was an unrelated property offense. Protecting @denversmayor vibrant “newcomers” from deportation is being treated as the higher priority than keeping poison off Denver streets. Two-tiered justice for the people selling the drugs that are killing Coloradans. @ERODenver @WhiteHouse SOURCE: lawenforcementtoday.com/denv…
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Denver's overdose death rate rose 14.6% in 2025 to 50.8 per 100,000, moving it from 6th to 4th highest of 18 big-city counties (CDC, provisional). A better path is possible: Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession. denveroverdose.com/#compare
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Fentanyl was involved in 376 of the 403 opioid-involved deaths in Denver in 2025, about 93% (Denver Medical Examiner, preliminary). Treatment can change lives. Prop 132 makes it mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Denver's opioid settlement fund spent $205K in 2023 and $3.65M in 2024, with $4.38M budgeted for 2026 (Denver budget books). That money can fund recovery. Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#spending
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368 Denver residents died of overdoses in the 12 months ending March 2026, up 8.9% from 338 a year earlier (CDC, provisional). 13 of 17 peer counties fell. A better path is possible: Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Overdose ambulance runs in Denver are billed an estimated $2-3M a year, and only about $0.5-1M is collected (our estimate from CMS and DDPHE data). Treatment can change lives. Prop 132 makes it mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path. denveroverdose.com/#ems
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Denver had 1,246 nonfatal suspected opioid overdose ER visits Jan 1 to Aug 16, 2026 (DDPHE dashboard). Each is a survivor who can still recover. Prop 132 makes treatment mandatory for small fentanyl possession, a better path for thousands. denveroverdose.com/#trends
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Denver's health department gets a CDC Overdose Data to Action grant of about $1.81M a year, roughly $9.04M from 2023 to 2028 (City of Denver). Prevention matters, and treatment can change lives. Prop 132 makes it mandatory for small fentanyl possession. denveroverdose.com/#spending
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