Mushrooms Legal : Ten years after the United States was first in allowing sales of marijuana, Colorado became the second state in the U.S. to permit psilocybin also known as “magic,” mushrooms. Oregon is the only state in the nation to permit it.
The opponents in the Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act conceded to the vote’s success.
“We have officially accepted Proposition 122 will pass,” Luke Niforatos in his tweet from Thursday morning. Niforatos is the president of the Colorado Protectors’ Kids the group that was opposed to Prop 122.
“I am grateful to all across the state who has contributed to this grassroots effort in getting to the masses. We’re not able to be able to compete with the checks of billionaires,” he added.
At two p.m. on November. 10, the data provided by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office indicated that it was clear that Natural Medicine Health Act -approved in the form of Proposition 122 — was close to getting an unpopular approval with 51.6 percent of voters in favor of the measure.
The law will permit people aged 21 and over to cultivate and share psilocybin fungi and establishment of state-regulated facilities where individuals can make an appointment to consume the fungus. The proposal will also establish “healing centers” that will offer clients mushrooms under supervision however, it will not establish “mushroom dispensaries” similarly to how cannabis is purchased and sold.
The supporters for the measure on ballot say mushrooms have helped to address their mental health problems in ways that traditional drugs did not, specifically when mushrooms were consumed in small amounts, a process known as microdosing.
The opponents of the bill are from a variety of camps. Others, such as Niforatos, say research on psilocybin research is not sufficient and that granting legal access to the drug could be dangerous to children and others in the community.
Others opposed to the law, who were also involved in the legalization of cannabis and are long-time participants in the psychedelic scene in Colorado have said that they are for decriminalizing mushrooms but they didn’t support the 2022 proposal due to those outside of the state who support the idea, and what they perceived as a fast-tracked process.
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies has recently warned state lawmakers that they are not prepared for the task of implementing the state’s brand-new legal, second-in-the-nation “magic mushrooms” industry, which the voters approved in November.
The department, which typically oversees areas such as banking and insuranceis charged with adopting a regulation structure where psychedelics can be consumed in a legal manner by anyone who are 21 and over in licensed locations. The establishments are expected to begin operations by in the latter half of 2024.
DORA is also responsible for drafting regulations regarding the cultivation and production of psychedelic fungi, in addition to safeguarding consumers, implementing public education programs and giving recommendations to legislators regarding how to structure the industry.
There’s just one problem: DORA says it has no idea what it’s doing when it comes to psilocybin, the hallucination-inducing compound derived from psychedelic mushrooms.
“This is a subject that is completely beyond the reach of any current expertise or history of regulation in the department.” DORA wrote in the budget document that was submitted by the state legislature’s Joint Budget Committee. “This is different from everything else that the department regulates. The department lacks the skills or resources to begin the process of implementing this vast new program that deals with substances that have agricultural chemicals, controlled substances chemical/scientific or facility-related issues.”
Proposition 122, which legalized magic mushrooms, was passed by more than 8 percent. It was different because it explicitly tasked DORA to roll out the psilocybin market, instead of permitting the state to determine the state’s agencies are responsible for the regulation of the magic mushrooms. The fact is, it’s not apparent that the people who drafted Proposition 122 have reached out to DORA to determine whether they could take on the burden.
“Did they sit down and say , do you want to accept this? I don’t believe so,” said Katie O’Donnell an official spokesperson for DORA. “It could have been used anywhere. It’s not perfect in one among them.”
(Patty Salazar, who is the director of DORA she declined to be interviewed in order to decide who will assume the psilocybin responsibility.)
The Colorado Department of Revenue, for example, oversees the marijuana industry. Hemp is managed through the Department of Agriculture.
