Colorado decriminalizes psychedelics and legalizes psilocybin therapy

On Tuesday, Colorado voters approved an initiative to legalize the possession of certain psychedelics and establish psilocybin «healing centers.».

More than four years after Denver became the first U.S. city to decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms, the state is legalizing the small-scale possession of certain psychedelic substances, all following Oregon's example which authorizes licensed facilities to administer supervised psilocybin treatments.

The Natural Medicine Health Act It therefore legalizes the possession, use, cultivation, and sharing of psilocybin, ibogaine, mescaline (not derived from peyote), DMT, and psilocin for adults aged 21 and older, with no explicit possession limits. There will be no recreational sales.

A psychedelic treatment program, open only to adults aged 21 and older, will be established. Patients will then be able to visit an accredited treatment center to receive treatment under the supervision of a qualified facilitator.

Only psilocybin and psilocin will be authorized for therapeutic use in licensed treatment centers until June 2026. After that date, regulatory authorities may decide to also authorize the regulated therapeutic use of DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline.

A new 15-member advisory board on natural medicine will be tasked with making recommendations on which substances to include in the program. The advisory board will include individuals with experience in psychedelic medicine in both scientific and religious contexts.

Individuals who have served their sentences for a conviction related to an offense decriminalized by this new law may ask the courts to expunge their criminal records. If the prosecutor does not object, the court must automatically expunge the record.