Experts are sounding the alarm that Gabe Evans’ actions in Congress “will likely worsen the crisis” surrounding fentanyl and drug addiction in Colorado.
 DCCC Spokesperson Lindsay Reilly:
“Gabe Evans said it himself: he takes ‘100%’ credit for passing legislation that will make it harder for Colorado to fight the fentanyl crisis. Coloradans deserve a champion who keeps their word, not another corrupt politician who cares more about keeping D.C. party bosses happy than solving real problems in the community.”
Read the reporting for yourself…
Colorado Times Recorder: Evans Rode To Power Promising To ‘Fix’ the Drug Abuse Crisis, But Experts Say He’s Made It Worse
- When he was running for Congress in 2024, Gabe Evans said that if elected, it would be his “mission” to stop the “scourge of fentanyl.”
- But since he entered Congress, Evans has acted as if he were elected to exacerbate problems related to drug abuse, not solve them.
- His actions in Congress will likely worsen the crisis, say experts, leading to more overdose deaths, less health care for people with substance abuse problems, and cuts to programs and services for addicts.
- Evans’ biggest blow to Colorado’s efforts to combat substance abuse came in the form of his two votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), which cut $1 trillion from Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income people that’s funded with federal and state dollars.
- An estimated 53,000 Medicaid enrollees in Colorado with “substance-use disorder could lose coverage and access to treatment” under the OBBB.
- In a commentary published by the Brookings Institution… [it was] reported last year that the Medicaid cuts for drug abuse treatment would have “devastating consequences.”
- As a result, according to a University of Pennsylvania study, the U.S. can expect 1,000 more overdose deaths over a year.
- Evans has shown no qualms whatsoever about his votes for the OBBB, even telling a conservative radio host that he deserves “100%” credit for the bill’s passage.
- The Trump Administration has also attacked a variety of companion programs to support people with substance use disorders. These programs have been proven to be effective.
- Evans didn’t speak up in support of SAMHSA this year or last year, even though SAMHSA provides funding for Narcan, which can reverse an overdose and is credited with saving tens of thousands of lives in the U.S.
- Evans brought Liz Hardy, whose daughter died of a fentanyl overdose, to the 2025 State of the Union to spotlight the fentanyl crisis. Hardy believes Narcan could have saved her daughter — and she’s been an advocate for its wide distribution.
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