Colorado Becomes Second State to Decriminalize Psychedelics

Proposition 122, Access to Natural Psychedelic Substances, was ahead by 51% of the vote as of Wednesday night. Natural Medicine Colorado, the campaign behind the measure declared victory at 5:20 Wednesday evening. Colorado is the second state to decriminalize psychedelics after Oregon.

The measure legalizes psilocybin and psilocin, two compounds found in psychedelic mushrooms, for use in therapeutic settings. In addition, prop 122 decriminalizes the personal growing, using, and sharing of psilocybin and psilocin, as well as ibogaine, mescaline (excluding peyote), and dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, for adults.

In addition, anyone who has completed a sentence following a conviction related to personal use or possession of psychedelic mushrooms will be able to file a petition to ask the courts to seal their records. Proposition 122 will also create a framework for regulating the growth, distribution, and sale of such substances to permitted entities; and create the Natural Medicine Advisory Board.

With the passing of prop 122, the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) has until January 2024 to develop licensing criteria for psychedelic treatment centers, facilitators, and ancillary businesses. By mid-2026, DORA could opt to expand the list of legal psychedelics to include ibogaine, mescaline, and DMT, all of which for now remain decriminalized* but not legal.

*Decriminalization refers to the removal of criminal sanctions against an act, article, or behavior. In this instance, decriminalization means that a once-banned drug is still prohibited by law, but the legal system will no longer prosecute or criminalize a person for carrying under a certain amount. Under Colorado law, more than four grams of a schedule I or II drug is considered unlawful.

While the measure does not legalize the sale of magic mushrooms, prop 122 does pave the way for the establishment of healing centers where adults aged 21 and up can use psychedelic substances under the supervision of licensed professionals. In 2019 Denver voted to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms allowing legal mushroom businesses like Sun and Silo to begin operating out of the city.

“We would like to congratulate drugs for winning the war on drugs,” Kim Koehler, founder of Sun and Silo, says in a press release.

Sun and Silo, along with other retailers, operate in the “functional mushroom” space. Functional mushrooms, known for their immune system-boosting qualities, have recently become the subject of studies looking into other possible benefits to cognitive health and stress regulation. Since functional mushrooms do not contain psychedelic compounds, they have always been legal, though business owners like Koehler hope to eventually be able to offer clients legal microdoses of magic mushrooms as well and laws continue to evolve.

Other proponents of the measure argue that conventional mental health practices have failed, while naturally occurring psychedelics can be used to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and PTSD. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched clinical trials to study the effectiveness of psilocybin as well as MDMA, as a treatment for PTSD.

Previous studies, like one conducted in 2020, found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was an effective and quick-acting treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder. A 2016 study found that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.

“When I’m on psychedelics, for example, like mushrooms or psilocybin, it opens my eyes to the beauty of the world, the love that I have for the world. All of that anger, or being upset or frustrated, it dissolves. It melts away,” said Jason Lopez, a Colorado veteran.

While magic mushroom retailers to rival cannabis dispensaries remain a thing of the distant future, prop 122 offers mental health relief to some of the most vulnerable and under-serviced among us: veterans.