Colorado Legalizes Psilocybin Sessions and Individual Use

By Gabriel García November 17, 2022

The state has become the second in the country to pass such a measure, after Oregon did so in 2020.

Voters in the U.S. state of Colorado have approved by popular vote a measure to legalize the use and cultivation of several natural psychedelics and psilocybin therapy in licensed facilities. Colorado has thus become the second state in the country to pass such a measure, after Oregon voters succeeded in 2020. After a day and a half since the polls closed the result has not yet been officially confirmed, but specialized media already give the victory to the ‘Yes’, which with 80% of the votes counted has achieved 51.29% support, against 48.71% against.

The measure legalizes the use, cultivation, possession and exchange of psilocybin, ibogaine, mescaline (not extracted from peyote) and DMT without an explicit possession limit, for people over 21 years of age. These psychoactive compounds are present in several plant species, which are referred to as entheogens in the context of traditional ritual use. These include the so-called hallucinogenic mushrooms, the san pedro cactus, iboga and the plants from which ayahuasca is made.

The vote has approved the creation of a regulation to allow access to psilocybin therapy through authorized centers and under the supervision of a trained person. The possibility of allowing the use of other substances in therapy centers - DMT, ibogaine and mescaline - is also included as a decision to be assessed from 2026. The regulation would be developed under the direction of the Department of Regulatory Agencies, and a special 15-member advisory board with expertise in the use of these substances in scientific and religious contexts would be created for this purpose.

Kevin Matthews, coalition director for Natural Medicine Colorado

However, severial media reports how the regulation proposal, as it stands, has generated the rejection of hundreds of advocates for the decriminalization of psychedelics on the grounds that such a model will lead to a privatization of access to entheogens, something that is happening in Oregon, where the development of the regulation approved in 2020 is nearing completion.

“This is a historic moment for both the people of Colorado and our country,” Kevin Matthews, coalition director for Natural Medicine Colorado, told local media, showing another side of the coin. “I think this demonstrates that voters here in Colorado are ready for new options and another choice for healing, especially when it comes to their mental and behavioral health.”

If you are interested in learning how these substances can help improve your mental health, you can read more information about psychedelics in the Essential Guide to the Psychedelic Renaissance,as well. We also recommend Psychedelics and Mental Health, by Irene de Caso and Your Brain on Psychedelics, by Genís Oña, where you will learn the keys to the effects of psychedelics, capable of producing significant changes in the processes of perception, thought and consciousness. The book also includes a prologue written by one of the greatest eminences in this field, José Carlos Bouso, scientific director of ICEERS.