{"id":81089,"date":"2025-04-29T12:02:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T20:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/colorado-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-let-governor-pardon-people-for-low-level-psychedelics-offenses\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T19:47:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T03:47:17","slug":"colorado-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-let-governor-pardon-people-for-low-level-psychedelics-offenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/colorado-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-let-governor-pardon-people-for-low-level-psychedelics-offenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Senate Committee Advances Bill To Let Governor Pardon People For Low-Level Psychedelics Offenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A Colorado Senate committee has advanced an amended version of a bill that would that would empower the governor to grant pardons to\u00a0people who\u2019ve been convicted of psychedelics-related offenses<\/a>, while also revising implementation rules and data-tracking provisions for the state\u2019s voter-passed psychedelics legalization law.<\/p>\n

At a hearing Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee adopted two amendments to the bill, SB25-297, before voting 5\u20132 to pass the measure. It next proceeds to the Senate Committee of the Whole.<\/p>\n

If enacted, SB25-297 would authorize Gov. Jared Polis (D) or future governors to grant clemency to people with convictions for low-level possession of substances such as psilocybin, ibogaine and DMT that have since been legalized for adults under state law.<\/p>\n

It would also require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Department of Revenue (DOR) and Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) to \u201ccollect information and data related to the use of natural medicine and natural medicine products.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would include data on law enforcement activities, adverse health events, consumer protection claims and behavioral impacts related to psychedelics.<\/p>\n

One of the amendments approved by the panel removes a government appropriation to pay for that data collection and tracking. The change replaces \u201congoing appropriations\u201d with \u201cappropriations or gifts, grants, or donations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked by the Senate committee chair whether there would be sufficient funding to cover the program, Sen. Matt Ball (D), a sponsor of the measure, replied<\/a> that lawmakers already have a letter of intent from the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative\u2014a nonprofit that supports advancing psychedelic therapy\u2014to fund the program for the entirety of its five-year duration.<\/p>\n

The other amendment similarly discusses appropriations for the bill<\/a>, earmarking $208,240 in gifts, grants and donations to the governor\u2019s office of information technology. \u201cTo implement this act, the office may use this appropriation to provide information technology services for the department of public health and environment,\u201d the amendment says.<\/p>\n

The legislation would further amend rules around licensing and ownership of psychedelic healing centers. For example, it removes a requirement for fingerprint background checks for owners and employees of licensed facilities, making it so they would only be subject to a name-based criminal background check.<\/p>\n

It additionally \u201crequires the state licensing authority to adopt rules related to product labels for regulated natural medicine and regulated natural medicine products and permits the state licensing authority to adopt rules regarding the types of regulated natural medicine products that can be manufactured.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal overall has support from an array of advocates, including psychedelic medicine proponents as well as groups more skeptical of legalization. Public commenters at a hearing earlier this month seemed to agree that the bill\u2019s data collection provisions would help observers both inside and outside Colorado better understand the outcomes around regulated psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cColorado is at the forefront of psychedelic policy. Other states are watching us closely,\u201d said Joshua Kappel, a co-founding partner at the law firm Vicente LLP and one of the drafters of Prop. 122, who read from a letter from five Colorado-based psychiatrists. \u201cIf we want to lead with integrity and responsibility, we must demonstrate that a regulated psychedelic program can be not only innovative, but accountable and effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data we collect here will shape national conversations, inform legislation, further guide scientific research and treatment protocol development and, most importantly, help save lives,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

Rachel O\u2019Bryan, co-founder and strategic projects director at the group One Chance to Grow Up, which aims to protect kids from risks associated with marijuana and THC, told lawmakers the organization\u2019s members and advisory council support the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne Chance believes best policy is informed by evidence and not opinions or assumptions,\u201d O\u2019Bryan said, \u201cand that requires the collection of data. This bill would improve the collection and dissemination of data regarding the impact of Colorado\u2019s natural medicine code on Colorado citizens and institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cColorado is a leader in the data collection for marijuana impacts,\u201d she\u00a0added, \u201cand this bill would ensure that Colorado is a leader in the data collection for natural medicine impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrea Stojsavljevic, a senior policy coordinator at Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado, also urged lawmakers to support the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese types of data collection can be critically informative to guide future policymaking,\u201d Stojsavljevic said. If data show increasing youth use, diversion of products or accidental ingestion, for example, \u201cthen we can return to the legislature to assess additional protections to avoid potentially serious health risks and children and youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Colorado, earlier this month the governor signed into law a bill that would\u00a0allow a form of psilocybin to be prescribed as a medication<\/a>\u00a0if the federal government authorizes its use.<\/p>\n

While Colorado already legalized psilocybin and several other psychedelics for adults 21 and older through the voter-approved ballot initiative, the newly enacted reform will make it so drugs containing an isolated crystalized version synthesized from psilocybin can become available under physician prescription.<\/p>\n

As of January, meanwhile, Colorado regulars have been\u00a0authorized to approve licenses for psilocybin service centers<\/a>\u00a0where adults can access the psychedelic in controlled settings.<\/p>\n

The governor\u00a0signed a bill to create the regulatory framework<\/a>\u00a0for legal psychedelics in 2023.<\/p>\n

But lawmakers evidently are interested in setting the state up to allow for a more conventional system of distribution for certain psychedelics. In 2022, Polis also\u00a0signed a bill to\u00a0align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions<\/a>\u00a0if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use.<\/p>\n

Whether FDA moves forward with any such approvals in uncertain, and the agency faced criticism last year after rejecting an application to allow MDMA-assisted therapy for people with PTSD.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Colorado, a bill that would have\u00a0limited THC in marijuana and outlawed a variety of psilocybin products<\/a>\u00a0will no longer move forward this session following the lead sponsor\u2019s move to withdraw the bill.<\/p>\n

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Trump\u2019s First Attorney General Pick Shares \u2018Theory\u2019 About Why Marijuana Hasn\u2019t Been Federally Legalized Yet<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Colorado Senate Committee Advances Bill To Let Governor Pardon People For Low-Level Psychedelics Offenses<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Colorado Senate Committee Advances Bill To Let Governor Pardon People For Low-Level Psychedelics Offenses<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Colorado Senate committee has advanced an amended version of a bill that would that would empower the governor to grant pardons to\u00a0people who\u2019ve been convicted of psychedelics-related offenses, while also revising implementation rules and data-tracking provisions for the state\u2019s voter-passed psychedelics legalization law. At a hearing Tuesday, the SenateContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"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\/81089"}],"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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81089"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81090,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81089\/revisions\/81090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}