Colorado activists have wasted no time working to place competing initiatives to legalize psychedelics on the state\u2019s November ballot, with one campaign saying that it\u2019s already collected nearly half of the required signatures needed to qualify its measure.<\/p>\n
Natural Medicine Colorado, a campaign backed by the national New Approach PAC, filed several versions of reform initiatives before deciding on one to pursue<\/a> in March. It would legalize psilocybin, create licensed \u201chealing centers\u201d where people can use the psychedelic for therapeutic purposes and provide a pathway for record sealing for prior convictions.<\/p>\n In just about two months since being approved for petitioning by state officials, the group has made significant progress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been collecting signatures for about six weeks and have approximately 40 percent of the 124,632 signatures we need from voters to appear on the ballot this November,\u201d Kevin Matthews, a chief petitioner who previously served as the campaign manager of Denver\u2019s historic 2019 vote to locally decriminalize psilocybin<\/a>, told Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to finalize our signature collection in the coming months and hit the ground running this fall to bring regulated access to natural medicine for Colorado,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the Natural Medicine Health Act initiative<\/a> would accomplish:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Possession, use, cultivation and sharing of psilocybin would be legalized for adults 21 and older, without an explicit possession limit.<\/p>\n There would be a two-tiered reform model, where only psilocybin would be permitted for non-commercial adult use until June 2026. After that point, the measure would eventually allow regulators to decide whether to also legalize DMT, ibogaine and mescaline.<\/p>\n The decision to add additional substances to the program would be made by the Department of Regulatory Agencies in consultation with a new 15-member Natural Medicine Advisory Board that includes people who have experience with psychedelic medicine in a scientific and religious context.<\/p>\n Under the proposal, the Department of Regulatory Agencies would be responsible for developing rules for a therapeutic psychedelics program where adults 21 and older could visit a licensed \u201chealing center\u201d to receive treatment under the guidance of a trained facilitator.<\/p>\n People who have completed their sentence for a conviction related to an offense made legal under the act would be able to petition the courts for record sealing. If there\u2019s no objection from the district attorney, the court would need to automatically clear that record.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a separate campaign headed by Decriminalize Nature Colorado, which has taken issue with some of the regulations prescribed in the Natural Medicine Colorado measure, filed a competing initiative in January<\/a>, and activists are also making headway in signature gathering.<\/p>\n\n That campaign\u2019s one-page measure<\/a> would simply allow adults 21 and older to possess, cultivate, gift and deliver psilocybin, psilocyn, ibogaine, mescaline and DMT.<\/p>\n Further, the proposal says that it would be lawful to conduct psychedelics services for guidance, therapy and harm reduction and spiritual purposes with or without accepting payment. It would not be legal to sell any of the psychedelics, however.<\/p>\n Advocates with the group started collecting signatures for the proposal in April, and they\u2019ve been hosting events across the state where people can learn more about the initiative and sign the petition.<\/p>\n Marijuana Moment reached out to Decriminalize Nature Colorado for details about how many signatures have been collected to date, but a representative was not immediately available.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was recently asked about the prospects of enacting psychedelics reform in the state, and he acknowledged that advocates are working to accomplish that policy change at the ballot and also said he supports the idea of decriminalizing the substances<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the governor will have a chance to sign a more modest psychedelics reform bill<\/a> into law after the legislature sent him a measure to align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use.<\/p>\n Colorado is far from the only state where psychedelics legislation is advancing.<\/p>\n For example, the governor of Connecticut recently signed a large-scale budget bill<\/a> that includes provisions to set the state up to provide certain patients with access to psychedelic-assisted treatment using substances like MDMA and psilocybin.<\/p>\n Maryland lawmakers\u00a0recently sent a bill to the governor<\/a>\u00a0that would create a state fund to provide \u201ccost-free\u201d access to psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n The Maine Senate approved\u00a0a bill last month to to create a medical psilocybin program<\/a>\u00a0in the state, but the House of Representatives refused to go along.<\/p>\n Also last month, Georgia lawmakers advanced a bipartisan resolution that calls for the formation of a House study committee to\u00a0investigate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0like psilocybin and make recommendations for reforms.<\/p>\n The governor of Utah signed a bill in March to create a task force to study and make recommendations\u00a0on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs<\/a>\u00a0and possible regulations for their lawful use.<\/p>\n A Missouri House committee also held a hearing that month on a GOP-led bill to\u00a0legalize a wide range of psychedelics for therapeutic use<\/a>\u00a0at designated care facilities while further decriminalizing low-level possession in general.<\/p>\n The Washington State legislature recently sent a budget bill to the governor\u2019s desk that includes a proposal to\u00a0direct $200,000 in funding to support a new workgroup<\/a>\u00a0to study the possibility of legalizing psilocybin services in the state, including the idea of using current marijuana regulatory systems to track psychedelic mushrooms.<\/p>\n In March, the Hawaii Senate approved a bill to set up a state working group to\u00a0study the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>\u00a0and develop a \u201clong-term\u201d plan to ensure that the psychedelic is accessible for medical use for adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n Also that month, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill to\u00a0decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0and promote research into the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.<\/p>\n Rhode Island lawmakers introduced\u00a0a pair of drug decriminalization bills in March<\/a>\u2014including one focused on psilocybin and buprenorphine that would authorize doctors to prescribe the psychedelic mushroom.<\/p>\n An Oregon Senate committee also recently advanced a bill to ensure that equity is\u00a0built into the state\u2019s historic therapeutic psilocybin program<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s actively being implemented following voter approval in 2020.<\/p>\n A bill to decriminalize a wide array of psychedelics in Virginia was taken up by a House of Delegates panel in January,\u00a0only to be pushed off until 2023<\/a>. A separate Senate proposal to decriminalize psilocybin alone\u00a0was later defeated in a key committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n California Sen. Scott Wiener (D) told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview that his bill to\u00a0legalize psychedelics possession<\/a>\u00a0stands a 50\/50 chance of reaching the governor\u2019s desk this year. It already cleared the full Senate and two Assembly committees during the first half of the two-year session.<\/p>\n Washington State lawmakers\u00a0also introduced legislation in January<\/a>\u00a0that would legalize what the bill calls \u201csupported psilocybin experiences\u201d by adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania bill meant to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms for certain mental health conditions may be in jeopardy, with the sponsor saying that the chair of a key House committee is\u00a0expressing reservations even after the legislation<\/a>\u00a0was amended in an effort to build support.<\/p>\n New Hampshire lawmakers filed measures to\u00a0decriminalize psilocybin and all drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Legislation was\u00a0also enacted by the Texas legislature<\/a>\u00a0last year requiring the state to study the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and a military-focused medical center.<\/p>\n At the congressional level, bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to DEA in January, urging that the agency\u00a0allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution.<\/p>\n Activists and patients were\u00a0arrested at the DEA headquarters on Monday<\/a>\u00a0after engaging in civil disobedience during a protest over the agency\u2019s refusal to provide a waiver granting those patients access to psilocybin under Right to Try laws.<\/p>\n American Basketball Star Brittney Griner \u2018Wrongfully Detained\u2019 Over Cannabis In Russia, U.S. Says While Maintaining Prohibition At Home<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Wikimedia\/Workman<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Colorado Activists Collect Tens Of Thousands Of Signatures To Put Psychedelics Reform On Ballot<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Colorado activists have wasted no time working to place competing initiatives to legalize psychedelics on the state\u2019s November ballot, with one campaign saying that it\u2019s already collected nearly half of the required signatures needed to qualify its measure. Natural Medicine Colorado, a campaign backed by the national New Approach PAC,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54647"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54648,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54647\/revisions\/54648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\nRead More: Colorado Activists Collect Tens Of Thousands Of Signatures To Put Psychedelics Reform On Ballot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"