Roberts’ Bipartisan Suicide Prevention Bill Clears Senate

Legislation would ban the sale of high-potency sodium nitrate products to prevent suicides

DENVER, CO – Today, the Senate advanced Senator Dylan Roberts’, D-Frisco, bill to prevent suicides by regulating the sale of sodium nitrite products to Coloradans.

Cosponsored by Senator Byron Pelton, R-Sterling, HB24-1081 would ban the sale or transfer of high-potency sodium nitrite products, those that contain 10 percent or greater of sodium nitrite, thereby restricting sales solely to businesses with a verified commercial need. The bill would also require warning labels on approved products to highlight sodium nitrite’s lethality. 

“Colorado tragically has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country, with a particularly alarming high number of suicide deaths among Colorado’s youth,” said Roberts. “In recent years, we have seen a disturbing trend where people struggling with suicidal ideation and seeking help online are winding up in a web-based wasteland that offers advice on “how to” take one’s own life. This bill seeks to restrict the availability of the extremely potent sodium nitrite chemical and appropriately highlight its lethality so that we can restrict this means of suicide and save lives.”

Sodium nitrite “suicide kits” are easily accessible online and have reportedly been used by Colorado residents, especially youth, in recent years. Websites that sell these kits often have step-by-step instructions on how to use sodium nitrite to complete suicide.

Under the bill, sellers would be required to verify that commercial businesses require the product before a transaction could be made, and records of sales or transfers must be kept for three years. Violators would face $10,000 in civil penalties for a first violation, and up to $1 million for a second violation.

The bill now moves to the House for consideration of Senate amendments. Follow its progress HERE.