Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, 9/27/18
In November, Denver voters will weigh whether to pass Herod’s Caring 4 Denver ballot initiative, which would increase the sales tax by .25 percent, or about $45 million annually, to bolsters the city’s existing mental-health and substance-abuse treatment options and fund suicide prevention programs and those targeting the opioid epidemic.
The initiative is also designed to “reduce homelessness, improve long-term recovery, and reduce the use of jails and emergency rooms.” “The largest mental health facilities are jails and prisons,” Herod says. “I think this is the most important issue facing Denver today.”