Colorado has voted to pass the Natural Medicine Health Act (Proposition 122) by 51.4%, which will see the decriminalisation and regulation of the use of psychedelic medicines.
Colorado is now the second state in the US to decriminalise the use of psychedelic medicines after Oregon passed the Psilocybin Services Act in November 2020.
Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act aims to address the state’s current approach to mental health, focusing on ensuring the safe delivery of psychedelics care to patients, as well as harm reduction and improved education.
The bill will enable adults over the age of 21 to access psychedelic care through licensed healing centres with trained facilitators and will remove criminal penalties for possession of psychedelics.
Initially, the bill will only apply to psilocybin and psilocin up until June 2026, when a decision will be made on whether to extend the Natural Medicine Health Act’s application to other psychedelic medicines including DMT, ibogaine and mescaline (excluding peyote).
The bill would see:
- The introduction of harm reduction initiatives including the removal of criminal penalties for people over the age of 21
- A focus on education on psychedelics medicines including public service campaigns, public service announcements, educational curricula and training for law enforcement and first responders
- The establishment of a Natural Medicine Advisory Board
- The launch of a medical access programme that will regulate the cultivation, manufacture, testing, storage, transfer, transport, delivery, sale and purchase of psychedelic medicines.
- Rules established for the qualifications, education and training requirements for psychedelic facilitators that deliver medicine to patients by January 2024.
- The establishment of licensed healing centres
- The establishment of rules regarding dosing recommendations, equitable and inclusive access to services, licensing, health and safety, supervision of sessions, provisions for group administrations and testing of medicines, among others.
The campaign for the Proposition was spearheaded by non-profit organisation Natural Medicine Colorado.
In the run up to voting, the Act saw strong opposition from 30 officials who urged citizens to vote against the bill, stating it is too early to know the effectiveness of the medicines for mental health.
Opponents of the Act included the Rocky Mountain State Area Conference of the NAACP, drug reform group Blue Rising, the Mayor of Denver Michael Hancock and Attorney General Phil Weiser, as well as the Native Coalition Against the Natural Medicine Health Act – a collective of intertribal Indigenous Native American people.
In a letter Native Coalition Against the Natural Medicine Health Act raised concerns over the Proposition, stating that the bill “ignores critical issues pertaining to stewardship, conservation, intellectual property and fair-trade practices,” and “misleads and falsely informs the public.”
Despite concerns remaining over the details of the Proposition, its success seems to be a symbolic reflection of the sentiment in the US toward psychedelic medicines, with a recent survey revealing that nearly half of Americans support the use of psychedelics in a medical context.
