Colorado Legislature takes up psychedelic medicines regulation – again

Although Colorado voters approved a groundbreaking psychedelics legalization ballot measure in 2022, it’s still being implemented by lawmakers, who introduced yet another bill introduced at the state capitol to set the stage for a medical psilocybin industry.

However, the legislative session will adjourn in a month, which doesn’t leave much time for discussion.

Lawmakers approved a bill last year to create the Natural Medicine Division (NMD) to implement Proposition 122, the psychedelic legalization ballot measure from 2022, but they left unfinished a lot of specifics which the new bill aims to reconcile, Westword reported.

Still, medical psilocybin treatment centers and clinics may begin opening next year, which is motivation for lawmakers to act sooner rather than later.

According to a legislative summary, Senate Bill 24-198 would:

Allow for expanded psilocybin facilitator education and training programs.
Exempt such training programs from rules that govern private schools.
Update lab testing and certification requirements for natural medicine products.
Bar any individual from holding a financial stake in more than five natural medicine business permits.
Allow for natural medicine testing facilities to be co-located at sites with medical marijuana testing labs.

It also specifies the type of psychedelic product transfers that are allowed between healing centers, facilitators, cultivation facilities, and manufacturers.

A bill analysis from Vicente LLP found the measure “encouraging” and suggested it would help “ensure a workable, sustainable, and equitable natural medicine market.”

The measure was introduced April 4, and according to the legislature’s website, it will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. The legislative session is set to adjourn on May 8, so it’s unclear if the bill will have time to get through both the state House and Senate.

Meanwhile, the NMD and the Department of Revenue are conducting public hearings and rulemaking sessions for psilocybin, with expected industry rules coming this fall, Westword reported.

Prop 122 also decriminalized the personal use of DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline, and those three substances will be reviewed for possible medical legalization at some point in the future by the state Department of Regulatory Agencies, Westword reported.