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A congressman says that he expects that Colorado voters will make history again next week by passing a ballot initiative to legalize the possession of certain psychedelics and create psilocybin therapy centers in the state.<\/p>\n
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) told Marijuana Moment late last month that he \u201cabsolutely\u201d sees parallels between the movements to reform laws around psychedelics and marijuana. And in much the same way that Colorado was one of the first states to legalize cannabis for adult use in 2012, he predicts \u201cyou\u2019re going to see passage\u201d of Proposition 122 this year.<\/p>\n
The congressman is well known for his marijuana reform advocacy on Capitol Hill, serving as a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. But he\u2019s also become one of the most vocal members on psychedelics policy in recent years as his home state of Oregon has led the way in legalizing psilocybin services access and more broadly decriminalizing drug possession.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he feels whether the country is witnessing a repeat of the marijuana reform movement with psychedelics, he said \u201cabsolutely\u2014it\u2019s part of the same process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the pattern that we\u2019ve seen,\u201d Blumenauer said. \u201cOregon and Colorado had been sort of kindred spirits in a number of these areas. But it\u2019s not just Oregon and Colorado: this is a movement that is taking hold in countries around the world, and there\u2019s interest across the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be sure, the local psychedelics decriminalization movement has exploded throughout the country since Denver became the first city in the U.S. where voters approved a 2019 measure to make laws against psilocybin among the lowest law enforcement priorities. And reform has reached state legislatures of diverging political makeups, as well as Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the approach that we\u2019ve taken in Oregon, to have very careful therapeutic use that\u2019s developed,\u201d he said, referencing the state\u2019s 2020 vote to legalize licensed psilocybin services<\/a>, which is actively being implemented. \u201cThis has tremendous potential for dealing with addiction\u2014dealing with problems that people engage as they approach end of life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very promising set of therapies. It appears to work. It\u2019s low-risk. It\u2019s something that people feel comfortable with,\u201d the congressman said. \u201cAnd I think that you\u2019re going to see passage in Colorado\u2026and I think this trend is going to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n Voter approval certainly isn\u2019t guaranteed, of course. Polling on the novel initiative has been mixed, with one recent survey commissioned by the campaign showing strong public support and another signaling that it could be soundly defeated.<\/p>\n Even Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who voiced support for psychedelics decriminalization<\/a> and touted the therapeutic potential of entheogenic substances said at a recent gubernatorial debate that he\u2019s still undecided and needs to read up<\/a> on the ballot measure.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s reluctance to endorse the measure at this stage also comes as some psychedelics reform advocates are actively opposing the initiative, including one led by some activists who pushed for an alternative legalization measure<\/a>\u00a0that didn\u2019t make the ballot.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the Natural Medicine Health Act\u00a0initiative<\/a>\u00a0would accomplish if approved by voters:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Possession, use, cultivation and sharing of psilocybin, ibogaine, mescaline (not derived from peyote), DMT and psilocyn would be legalized for adults 21 and older, without an explicit possession limit. There would be no recreational sales component.<\/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 healing center to receive treatment under the guidance of a trained facilitator.<\/p>\n There would be a two-tiered regulatory model, where only psilocybin and psilocyn would be permitted for therapeutic use at licensed healing centers until June 2026. After that point, regulators could decide whether to also permit regulated therapeutic use of DMT, ibogaine and mescaline.<\/p>\n A new 15-member Natural Medicine Advisory Board would be responsible for making recommendations on adding substances to the program, and the Department of Regulatory Agencies could then authorize those recommended additions.<\/p>\n The advisory board\u2019s membership would specifically include people who have experience with psychedelic medicine in a scientific and religious context.<\/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 Back in Congress, Blumenauer also recently\u00a0spoke about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a> during a congressional committee markup, saying the substances hold \u201creal potential\u201d as alternative mental health therapies with \u201cless impact\u201d than traditional pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n He suggested that psychedelics policy should be part of the larger conversation about health care improvements, noting his interest in giving terminally ill patients access to investigative drugs like psilocybin, for example.<\/p>\n At the beginning of this year, Blumenauer led a bipartisan letter requesting that\u00a0DEA allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution under federal \u201cRight to Try\u201d (RTT) law.<\/p>\n Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is also pushing to promote access to psychedelics<\/a> that he says hold therapeutic potential.<\/p>\n In a video posted to Twitter last month, the senator talked about how psychedelics like psilocybin are strictly controlled under federal law as Schedule I drugs, which places \u201ca lot of limitations\u201d on them.<\/p>\n Booker referenced bipartisan legislation that\u00a0he and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) filed in July<\/a>\u00a0to clarify that federal \u201cRight to Try\u201d (RTT) laws give seriously ill patients access to Schedule I drugs, including marijuana and certain psychedelics.<\/p>\n He said that the intent of the bill is to \u201copen up more avenues to take drugs that are now banned and make them accessible, especially for people that are suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill\u2014a House companion version of which is being sponsored by Blumenauer\u2014would make a technical amendment to the text of the existing statute, but the primary purpose is to clarify that RTT policy as signed into law by former President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0already means that patients with terminal health conditions can obtain and use investigational drugs that have undergone clinical trials, even if they\u2019re Schedule I controlled substances.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, congressional appropriations leaders have\u00a0included language in recent spending legislation<\/a>\u00a0that urges federal agencies to continue supporting research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.<\/p>\n In July, the House voted in favor of\u00a0two psychedelics-related amendments to a defense bill<\/a>, including one that would require a study to investigate psilocybin and MDMA as alternatives to opioids for military service members and another that would authorize the defense secretary to provide grants for studies into several psychedelics for active duty service members with PTSD.<\/p>\n But while advocates are encouraged by these incremental developments amid the national psychedelics decriminalization movement, some lawmakers feel that Congress isn\u2019t keeping pace with the public and the science.<\/p>\n Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) told Marijuana Moment recently that he\u2019s done his research and believes that natural plants and fungi like psilocybin can be a therapeutic \u201cgame changer,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0but he said that it\u2019s \u201cembarrassing\u201d how slow other federal lawmakers have been to evolve on the issue.<\/p>\n \u2014 Federal health officials have taken note of the increased adult use of certain entheogenic substances. As National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow put it earlier this year,\u00a0the \u201ctrain has left the station\u201d on psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently said that it is actively \u201cexploring\u201d the possibility of creating a task force to\u00a0investigate the therapeutic of certain psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0like psilocybin and MDMA in anticipation of federal approval of the substances for prescription use.<\/p>\n That came in response to letters from bipartisan congressional lawmakers, state legislators and military veterans, who implored the HHS secretary to to consider establishing an \u201cinteragency taskforce on the proper use and deployment of psychedelic medicine and therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n For its part, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last month that it want to more than double the amount of marijuana that can be legally manufactured for research in 2023\u2014and it\u2019s also seeking to significantly increase the quota for the production of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0like psilocyn, LSD and mescaline.<\/p>\n A top Canadian health official who heads up the country\u2019s efforts to combat addiction recently visited Colorado, Oregon and Washington State to learn about their experiences implementing drug policy reform<\/a>\u00a0like broad decriminalization and harm reduction\u2014meeting with the governor of Oregon and psychedelics activists, among others, on a week-long tour.<\/p>\n Marijuana Is A More Valuable Crop Than Potatoes Or Rice, New Leafly Report On Adult-Use Market Finds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype<\/a> and Apollo<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Congressman Predicts Colorado Psychedelics Legalization Initiative Will Pass Next Week, And The Trend Will \u2018Continue\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A congressman says that he expects that Colorado voters will make history again next week by passing a ballot initiative to legalize the possession of certain psychedelics and create psilocybin therapy centers in the state. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) told Marijuana Moment late last month that he \u201cabsolutely\u201d sees parallelsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":57798,"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\/57797"}],"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=57797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57799,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57797\/revisions\/57799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Congressman Predicts Colorado Psychedelics Legalization Initiative Will Pass Next Week, And The Trend Will \u2018Continue\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"