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Colorado\u2019s Senate president has filed a bill to enact regulations for the possession, cultivation and use of certain psychedelics for personal, therapeutic and spiritual purposes\u2014giving a preview of the policy landscape that may emerge following voter approval of a legalization ballot initiative<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n The legislation seeks to set rules on \u201chealing centers\u201d where adults 21 and older could receive psychedelic treatment, tighten up policies on cultivation and facilitators, establish licensing requirements, dictate state agency regulatory responsibilities and impose penalties for unsanctioned activities.<\/p>\n While possession, cultivation and sharing certain entheogenic substances became legal for adults after Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a proclamation certifying the voter-approved ballot measure<\/a> late last year, the initiative called for an advisory board to develop regulatory recommendations to inform more holistic legislation covering access to supervised psychedelic services and other issues.<\/p>\n But as that process moves ahead<\/a>, Senate President Steve Fenberg (D) filed a bill on Tuesday that would establish a separate regulatory framework for psychedelics, including provisions that depart from the ballot measure and others that are opposed by certain advocates.<\/p>\n Mason Marks, a law professor at the Florida State University College of Law and co-founder of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, said<\/a> that the legislation proposes some \u201csweeping changes\u201d to the initiative that voters passed last November.<\/p>\n \u201cA few proposed changes represent clear improvements to the original text,\u201d he said. \u201cOthers appear to contradict the voters\u2019 will, potentially recriminalizing some psychedelic-related activities. Some changes appear to add unnecessary complexity and potential for confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some of the key components of the bill<\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The bill would maintain the voter-approved ballot measure\u2019s policy of placing no limits on personal possession of psilocybin, ibogaine, mescaline (not derived from peyote), DMT and psilocyn by adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n Public consumption of psychedelics and underage use would be punishable by a $100 fine.<\/p>\n Adults could only cultivate natural psychedelics, and that activity would need to be at a private residence in an enclosed space that could not exceed 12 by 12 feet\u2014unless within a locality that enacted a policy allowing larger grows. Cultivating beyond prescribed limits wold be punishable by a $1,000 fine.<\/p>\n There would be a pathway for record sealing for people with prior convictions for psychedelic-related activities that have been made legal.<\/p>\n A new Division of Natural Medicine under the Department of Revenue (DOR) would play a central role in regulating the therapeutic program and issuing licenses for cultivators, manufacturers, testing facilities and healing centers. That\u2019s one difference from the initiative, which gave primary responsibilities to the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).<\/p>\n Facilitators who provide psychedelic services, including community-based healing programs and counseling, could not be compensated or reimbursed if they are operating outside of the licensing framework.<\/p>\n An Indigenous community working group\u2014which was not contemplated in the ballot initiative\u2014would be created within DORA to identify and address unintended consequences of the reform, particularly as it concerns the possible commercialization of psychedelics and religious or spiritual exploitation of native people.<\/p>\n The legislation clarifies that synthetic psychedelics are not permitted. And possessing psychedelics with \u201chazardous materials\u201d like solvents would be considered a Class 2 felony.<\/p>\n Initially only psilocybin and psilocyn could be administered at healing centers, but regulators could add additional psychedelics. The bill differs from the ballot measure by making it so regulators would be able to authorize the supervised use of ibogaine at the facilities at any time, rather than waiting until at least June 1, 2026, as is the case for mescaline and DMT.<\/p>\n There would be four categories of licenses: healing centers, cultivation facilities, product manufacturers and and testing facilities.<\/p>\n The deadline for regulators to start accepting and reviewing license applications would be pushed back from September 30, 2024 to December 31, 2024.<\/p>\n The bill\u2019s findings section notes that \u201calthough there may be tremendous potential in utilizing natural medicine for managing various mental health conditions, healing, and spiritual growth, this potential must be appropriately balanced with the health and safety risks that it could pose to consumers as well as the cultural harms it could pose to indigenous and traditional communities that have connections to natural medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cConsiderable harm may occur to indigenous people, communities, cultures, and religions if natural medicine is overly commodified, commercialized, and exploited in a manner that results in the erasure of important cultural and religious context,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n \u2014 A hearing on the legislation is scheduled in the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. Lawmakers face a tight deadline to get the measure passed through the legislature before the session ends in about two weeks.<\/p>\n The bill has received mixed early reactions, with some advocates tentatively supporting the basic framework and others strongly opposing the proposal because of what they consider to be excessive regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest concerns right now are the obvious recriminalization of common, traditional uses of natural medicine,\u201d citizen lobbyist David Nadelson told<\/a> Westword. \u201cThe simple act of ceremonial sharing of sacred medicine in a forest is criminalized. Growing plants outdoors is criminalized except for small, fenced-in spaces. Guides and healers cannot be compensated when natural medicine is involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Tasia Poinsatte, director of the Healing Advocacy Fund of Colorado, said in a press release on Wednesday that the legislation \u201cis an important step toward reaching that goal, but more work needs to be done to ensure this bill equitably and effectively implements Prop. 122 in a way that reflects the will of the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that by the end of the legislative process, this bill will complement the strong foundation created by Prop. 122,\u201d Poinsatte said.<\/p>\n Melanie Rose Rodgers, a psychedelics reform advocate who was among those who opposed the ballot proposition, announced a lobby day for interested parties to make their voices heard ahead of Thursday\u2019s committee hearing.<\/p>\n Tomorrow is Lobby Day at the Capitol\u2026 this bill still doesn\u2019t have a # yet we\u2019re told it will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee 4\/20 mid-morning.. this doesn\u2019t give Coloradans ample time to prep, review 87 pages of the bill draft & stakehold #copolitics<\/a> #coleg<\/a> #Prop122<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ORgNLtCdAM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Melanie Rose Rodgers (@melanierose) April 18, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n She told<\/a> Healing Maps that activists are \u201cgoing to have to defend ceremonial use\u201d and that the bill \u201cdoesn\u2019t seem natural at all\u201d as drafted.<\/p>\n Bipartisan Lawmakers File Congressional Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype<\/a> and Apollo<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top Colorado Senator Files Psychedelics Regulations Bill, Drawing Mixed Reactions<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s Senate president has filed a bill to enact regulations for the possession, cultivation and use of certain psychedelics for personal, therapeutic and spiritual purposes\u2014giving a preview of the policy landscape that may emerge following voter approval of a legalization ballot initiative last year. The legislation seeks to set rulesContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":64016,"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\/64015"}],"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=64015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64017,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64015\/revisions\/64017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top Colorado Senator Files Psychedelics Regulations Bill, Drawing Mixed Reactions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"