Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has vetoed a bill that would have allowed for more needle exchange sites throughout the city.
The changes proposed by Bill 24-1791 were simple: Remove the limit to how many needle exchange programs could operate, and allow the sites to open within 1,000 feet of schools and day cares without the need for exemptions.
Denver City Council voted 8-5 Monday to pass the ordinance, conceived by sponsors Stacie Gilmore, Serena Gonzalez-Gutierrez and Sarah Parady. The changes were recommended by the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.
But Johnston disagreed with the bill.
“Ordinance 24-1791 is the wrong solution at the wrong time,” he wrote in a letter to city council…