Colorado Votes to Decriminalize Most Psychedelics and Regulate Psilocybin Therapy

Colorado voters have approved a ballot measure that will decriminalize the personal possession of psilocybin and several other psychedelics.

At the time of writing, 92% of votes have been counted, according to the New York Times. From this proportion, it appears voters approved Proposition 122 by a margin of 52% to 48% during the US midterm election on Tuesday, November 8.

Once enacted, the proposal will give any adult in the state, aged 21 and over, the legal right to possess, use, cultivate and share psilocybin, ibogaine, mescaline (not derived from peyote), DMT, and psilocyn without fear of arrest.

The ballot measure also requires the state Department of Regulatory Agencies to regulate a therapeutic psychedelics program, which would license treatment centers and therapists.

A second psychedelic state

Under the proposal, only psilocybin and psilocin (another “magic mushroom” compound) will be eligible for therapeutic use, at least until 2026; other compounds could be approved from then onwards.

Proposition 122 also mandates the formation of a 15-member Natural Medicine Advisory board, which would oversee the therapeutic program.

Anyone with a criminal conviction for possession or use of a relevant psychedelic compound will now be able to petition a Colorado court for record sealing.

As the measure pertains to decriminalization, not legalization, the sale of psychedelics will still be prohibited in Colorado.

The state now becomes the second in the US to effectively permit the use of psychedelics; Oregon became the first in 2020.

Denver, the capital city of Colorado, also decriminalized “psilocybin mushrooms” in 2019.