Colorado Voters Approve Psychedelics Decriminalization Measure

On Tuesday, voters in Colorado approved a ballot measure that would decriminalize the therapeutic use of natural psychedelics, including psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms. With 88% of the vote counted as of Wednesday night, Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act, won his more than one million voters, accounting for 51.4% of the vote.

“This is a historic moment for both the people of Colorado and our country,” said Kevin Matthews, Coalition Director of Natural Medicine Colorado. said in a statement After the approval of Proposition 122 was revealed on Wednesday. “I think this shows that voters here in Colorado are ready to embrace new options and alternative options for healing, especially when it comes to mental and behavioral health.”

The Natural Medicine Health Act creates a state-regulated treatment system to give adults access to natural psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin mushroom, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and non-peyote-derived mescaline. Psychedelics are available in designated healing and hospice centers and other medical facilities under the guidance of a licensed and supervised facilitator. Medicines are not permitted off-site and are not permitted for retail sale in any form.

Psychedelics as therapy

Psychedelics, including psilocybin, have renewed interest in the drug’s potential to treat a wide range of mental health conditions.breakthrough therapy” But does not approve of the use of drugs.

The New England Journal of Medicine announced last week new research Psilocybin has been shown to be able to rapidly and significantly reduce symptoms of treatment-resistant depression.Prior research from the nation’s top medical research universities, including: Johns Hopkins University, University of California, San Francisco School of MedicineWhen new york university have shown good patient outcomes for depression and anxiety.Additionally, the Veterans Administration (VA) was launched provide a psychedelic In patients as part of a clinical trial.

Hallucinogens such as psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT have also been used for centuries by indigenous cultures in America for medical and spiritual purposes. Dr. Matthew X. Lowe, his director of research at Unlimited Sciences, a psychedelic research nonprofit, says there are many health and wellness benefits “from taking psilocybin.”

“Pre-industrial Mesoamerican cultures have consumed psilocybin in ritualized contexts for thousands of years to enhance psychotherapeutic healing, religious insight, and self-inquiry.” He said forbes“Recently, there has been renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of psilocybin in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, substance use disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.”

“Psilocybin intake is now consistently associated with antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects and is being considered for the treatment of depression and anxiety,” Lowe continued. found that decreased brain modularity after psilocybin therapy correlated with improved depressive symptoms and outcomes when compared with commonly prescribed antidepressants.

Named Natural Medicines Advisory Board

Passage of Proposition 122 requires Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to appoint 15 members to the new Natural Medicine Advisory Board by January 31, 2023. The Board’s first recommendation expires by September 30, 2023. The recommendation for a facilitator training program for the medical use of psilocybin as mandated by this bill expires on January 1, 2023. Regulated access to psilocybin will be available in late 2024.

“Colorado voters saw the benefits of regulated access to natural medicines, including psilocybin, so people with PTSD, terminal illness, depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems could be cured. Matthews and Veronica Lightning Horse Perez, co-sponsors of the bill, said. in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to working with regulatory and medical professionals and other stakeholders to implement this new law.”

Joshua Kappel, Chairman of Natural Medicine Colorado and Founding Partner of Vicente Sederberg LLC, a psychedelics and cannabis law firm, said: People with PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, trauma, and other mental conditions.

“This week, history was made. We are not only providing access to natural psychedelic assisted therapy in a state-regulated responsible environment, but we are also moving from arrests and many civil crimes to individual and community-based treatment. Proving to the world that it is possible to pass a ballot measure that protects the law, the creators of Prop 122 said in an email: high times“Many said this dual approach was neither wise nor impossible. I did.”