A new bill being considered in the state legislature opens the door to more medical use of psychedelics after magic mushrooms were decriminalized in 2022
rtann@aspentimes.com Possessing, growing, sharing, and consuming psychedelic or “magic” mushrooms is legal in Colorado after voters approved Proposition 122 in 2022. A new state bill could build on that by allowing for the prescription of synthetic psilocybin, the active component in mushrooms, if given federal approval. A state bill that could allow for synthetic psilocybin to be prescribed in Colorado cleared a key committee hearing on Tuesday at the Capitol.
Psilocybin, the active component in psychedelic or “magic” mushrooms, is already legal for medical use in the state after voters decriminalized the substance in 2022 . The move paved the way for licensed healing centers where patients seeking care for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues — along with terminal illnesses — could consume psychedelic mushrooms in a controlled setting.
Colorado and Oregon are the only states where possessing, sharing, and consuming psychedelic mushrooms is legal.
Now, House Bill 1063 seeks to push Colorado’s acceptance of psychedelic medicine a step further by allowing for synthetic psilocybin to be prescribed, if it is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The federal agency in June 2023 permitted drug makers to begin studying psilocybin as a potential treatment for medical conditions and mental health disorders, issuing its initial guidance on clinical trials for psychedelic drugs .
The use of psilocybin as a mental health treatment continues to garner support from academic and medical researchers from institutions like Johns Hopkins , the University of California Los Angeles , and New York University .
“We in Colorado have a history of making sure that we are trying to expand access to mental health care,” Louisville Democrat Kyle Brown, one of the bill’s sponsors, said during Tuesday’s House committee hearing.
“This bill makes sure that when a product — a (synthetic) psilocybin — is approved by the FDA … that those products would then be available as soon as possible to Coloradans,” he said.Rep. Anthony Hartsook (R-Parker), another bill sponsor, said […]
Could synthetic psilocybin be the next big thing in mental health? Colorado thinks so
