Patients over Profits. People over Partisanship. Advocacy in Action.

Despite the cancellation of Colorado’s interim study committee on addiction reform due to budgetary cuts, a summer Summit took place – and legislators were invited to listen to presentations with policy recommendations. What unfolded was an extraordinary act of civic resolve: an advocacy summit led by community servants who drew together with experts, legislators, affected individuals, family members, and providers. In the face of diminished funding, we gathered anyway.

The following are my remarks introducing Spencer's Law to the Summit. May it mark the beginning of a movement to bring ethical care and safety standards to the state of Colorado and across the nation.

Remarks by Teresa Cobleigh to the Colorado Legislative Summit, July 29, 2025

Thank you, Senators and Representatives, for being with us today—and for your dedication to the people of Colorado. Thank you to Senator Amabile for helping to get this legislation drafted, to Jose Esquibel for convening us, and to my colleagues Dr. Jim Shuler and Trina Faatz for their collaboration and advocacy.

I’m here today because I lost two of Colorado’s sons to overdose—Graham at 17 and Spencer at 24—during early recovery and treatment, and I don’t want more families to become casualties of a broken system like we did.

As a parent, it takes everything to get your loved one into treatment. And when you finally do, you trust the professionals to do their job: to follow medical guidance, coordinate care, manage emergencies, and ensure safe transitions. In my experience, none of that was guaranteed.

As a former banker, I know what fiduciary duty looks like—care, prudence, transparency. We demand it for pension assets. Why not for patients?

We rely on safety standards when we construct buildings, but when we build healthcare infrastructure, safety seems optional. We allow private agencies to set standards, insurance companies to dictate care, and drug companies to set prices—all while facing a national epidemic.

Let’s look at a snapshot of this crisis in Colorado. Overdose is the leading cause of death for Coloradans under 40. Three Coloradans die every day. The economic cost is estimated to be $16 billion annually—nearly equal to our tax base. Teen vulnerability is high due to synthetic opioids and low rankings in mental health. Treatment remains fragmented and poorly coordinated. As an example, only 1 in 5 with opioid use disorder receive medication-assisted treatment (MAT) despite its proven effectiveness. 

Behind every data point is a son or daughter—just like mine. Families forever changed. Spencer’s Law is about the young man Spencer, who tried treatment, but the treatment failed to meet his needs. It’s about his loving mother who did everything she could, but it wasn’t enough. It’s about fixing a broken system—and a body politic that cares enough to make that a priority.

We see the consequences of fragmented care every day. I recently picked up a family friend discharged from an ambulatory facility. He was cleared to go home—but had no way to get inside. The social worker had ordered a wheelchair, which was supposed to arrive within 48 hours, checked the box and discharged him anyway. These gaps between levels of care should not exist in healthcare. In addiction treatment, the problem is particularly acute —patients are discharged with low tolerance and vulnerable to a fatal overdose, without a safety plan or continuity of care. Narcan cannot administer itself; it does not have arms and legs. Harm reduction must be built into care.

And behind every data point is a son or daughter—just like mine. Families forever changed. Spencer’s Law is about the young man Spencer, who tried treatment, but the treatment failed to meet his needs. It’s about his loving mother who did everything she could, but it wasn’t enough. It’s about fixing a broken system—and a body politic that cares enough to make that a priority.

So let me outline what we’re proposing. Spencer’s Law stands for: Safe, Patient-centered, Evidence, Needs-based Care for Effective Recovery. Implicitly, it asks: What do we stand for? What is worth standing for? What it does is this: It codifies safety protocols and discharge protections, expands access to evidence-based MAT, improves care coordination and removes regulatory barriers, protects ethical providers and discourages exploitation. It focuses on patient outcomes—not just service delivery. This should reduce long-term public costs.

Why should Colorado lead? As I stand before you to outline the case—citing the precedents in other industries, the cost efficiencies for taxpayers, the alignment with federal priorities, the avoidable atrocities in other states—I ask you: What is the cost of our complacency? How would you like to be me?

Spencer’s Law offers a smart, fiscally responsible solution. It brings fiduciary principles into addiction treatment, sets clear expectations, and provides legal guardrails and recourse for families.

We can learn from the failures of the “Florida shuffle” and build Colorado’s treatment infrastructure responsibly and ethically. This should be common sense—and a foundation for broader, outcome-driven healthcare reform.

So let this be a defining moment. Let it be said that the good leaders of Colorado stood for: Patients over profits. People over partisanship. Common sense over complacency.

I urge you to co-sponsor and support Spencer’s Law, and I thank you for listening.