{"id":37377,"date":"2022-11-09T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T05:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-becomes-second-state-to-legalize-magic-mushrooms\/"},"modified":"2022-11-10T05:10:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T05:10:00","slug":"colorado-becomes-second-state-to-legalize-magic-mushrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-becomes-second-state-to-legalize-magic-mushrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado becomes second state to legalize \u2018magic mushrooms\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Psychedelic
Psychedelic mushrooms are considered a breakthrough treatment for anxiety and depression. They have been illegal under federal law since 1970. (Olivia Sun\/The Colorado Sun via Report for America)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ten years after legalizing the use and sale of marijuana, Colorado became only the second state in the U.S. to legalize the use of psilocybin mushrooms.<\/p>\n

The ballot measure, Proposition 122, squeaked across the finish line as ballots were tallied the day after Election Day, receiving 51% of the vote.<\/p>\n

Proponents called it a \u201ctruly historic moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cColorado voters saw the benefit of regulated access to natural medicines, including psilocybin, so people with PTSD, terminal illness, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues can heal,\u201d co-proponents, Kevin Matthews and Veronica Lightening Horse Perez said in emailed statement Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

Natural Medicine Colorado, which got Proposition 122 on the ballot, spent nearly $4.5 million to promote the measure. In contrast, the primary opposition, Protect Colorado\u2019s Kids, raised about $51,000.<\/p>\n

The measure will allow people 21 and older to grow and share psychedelic mushrooms, as well as create state-regulated centers where people could make appointments to consume psilocybin, the hallucination-inducing compound derived from psychedelic mushrooms. It calls for licensed \u201chealing centers\u201d to give clients mushrooms in a supervised setting, but \u2013 unlike marijuana \u2013 does not include an option for retail sales.<\/p>\n

Once again, Colorado passed a drug measure that\u2019s illegal under federal law. Psychedelic mushrooms became illegal in the U.S. in 1970 under the Controlled Substances Act. Even with Proposition 122\u2019s passage, psilocybin remains federally classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, like heroin, for which there is no current medical use.<\/p>\n

Colorado became the first to legalize marijuana a decade ago, and is second only to Oregon in legalizing psilocybin.<\/p>\n

Luke Niforatos, chairman of Protect Colorado\u2019s Kids, said he was concerned as a parent and for Colorado\u2019s public health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now need to have a very frank and public conversation about who is in charge of medicine,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is now the second time our state has rejected the FDA process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niforatos, who is also executive vice president of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, said Colorado has allowed \u201cbillionaires, startups and entrepreneurs\u201d to take control of medicine in this state instead of \u201cscientists, medical doctors and the FDA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niforatos said that if opponents of the measure had been able to raise enough money to educate the public about the dangers of allowing the use of drugs with no regulated dosage amounts or prescriptions, Proposition 122 would have failed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t compete with $4 million from out of state,\u201d he said, adding that proponents of the measure and the psilocybin industry will benefit from its passage while his side had no payoff to entice big-money donors.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also concerned that the opening of psychedelic healing centers and advertising of the drugs in cities across Colorado will normalize drug use among young people, leading to more teens using psilocybin. There is no opt-out provision in Prop 122 for cities and counties that do not want psychedelic healing centers, although cities and counties could enact rules about where the centers could open and their hours of operation.<\/p>\n

Proposition 122 also will allow facilities to expand to three plant-based psychedelics in 2026. Those are ibogaine, from the root bark of an iboga tree; mescaline, which is from cacti; and dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a natural compound found in plants and animals. Mental health centers and substance abuse treatment clinics also could seek licenses to offer psychedelic treatment.<\/p>\n

The natural medicines, used to treat anxiety and depression, are obtained now through friends who grow them or from underground \u201ctrip guides\u201d who sit with clients during a psychedelic experience, then help them process afterward.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Denver residents voted to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, making possession a low priority for law enforcement.<\/p>\n

With the passage of Proposition 122, Gov. Jared Polis has until Jan. 31 to appoint 15 members to the National Medicine Advisory Board, which will report to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s first recommendations are due by Sept. 30, and regulated access to psilocybin would become available in late 2024. Then by June 2026, the state Department of Regulatory Agencies could expand access to the three other plant-based psychedelics.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proposition 122 allows \u2018healing centers\u2019 to administer drug in supervised setting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[791,233,266,28,61],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-37377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ballot-initiatives","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-health"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37377"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=37377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}