There’s been a lot of news about Tuesday’s election. One of the things that hasn’t made the waves is Colorado’s approval of Prop. 122, which will pave the way for psilocybin clinics like in Oregon. Prop. 122 is actually much broader than Oregon’s Measure 109, and legalizes psychedelics far beyond just psilocybin.
Many expressed opposition to the law or were skeptical that it would succeed. I personally had doubts that voters would approve the law. After all, when Denver, among the state’s most progressive cities, decriminalized psilocybin, it did so with incredibly thin margins.
Well, it turns out I was wrong and that the same thing happened with Prop. 122 that happened in Denver. By the end of the day Wednesday, with 1.8 million votes counted, Prop. 122 led with about 49,000 votes — enough for some sources to call the election. While votes are apparently still being counted, it seems safe enough to call it here too.
If you want to learn more about Prop. 122, also known as the Natural Medicine Health Act of 2022 or “NMHA,” I suggest you check out my post from late October entitled “Will Colorado Be the Second State to Legalize Psychedelics?” While I won’t recap it in full here, the law will allow for regulated psilocybin clinics starting in 2024. As mentioned, the law also legalizes psychedelics like DMT and ibogaine starting in 2026, if the appropriate agency adopts rules specific to those substances. So while Oregon’s Measure 109 was monumental in legalizing psilocybin, Colorado’s law goes several steps farther.
All in all, this is a great victory for the industry. We are definitely going to keep posting about Colorado’s laws, or when other states inevitably legalize psychedelics. So stay tuned to the Psychedelic Law Blog for more updates.
