Colorado Votes to Decriminalize Shrooms and Other Psychedelics

Colorado became the second state to legalize magic mushrooms and decriminalize other psychedelics for adults following Tuesday’s midterm elections. 

With 92 percent of the vote counted, the Associated Press projects voters passed Proposition 122 , which decriminalizes using and possessing psilocybin and psilocin (the active ingredients in psychedelic mushrooms), DMT (the active ingredient in ayahuasca), mescaline (a hallucinogen that comes from a variety of cacti), and ibogaine (a psychoactive drug that comes from the central African shrub iboga and is used as an experimental addiction treatment). 

Through the Natural Medicine Health Act, Coloradans 21 and older will be able to do shrooms under supervision at licensed psilocybin healing centers. Shrooms will not be for sale at retail stores. The state could also decide to allow the supervised administration of the other psychedelics it decriminalized. 

“Colorado voters saw the benefit of regulated access to natural medicines, including psilocybin, so people with PTSD, terminal illness, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues can heal,” co-proponents Kevin Matthews and Veronica Lightening Horse Perez told the Denver Post. 

In 2020, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs and legalize shrooms for therapeutic purposes in licensed facilities which are set to open next year. Through Oregon’s program, a person must attend multiple appointments and take the shrooms under supervision at one of the psilocybin centers. 

However, dozens of cities and counties in Oregon had the chance to opt-out of having shroom centers on Tuesday night, and at least a handful of them did.

Colorado’s vote comes amid a wider psychedelic renaissance, with cities like Oakland, San Francisco, Denver, Ann Arbor, and Seattle, effectively decriminalizing shrooms and other psychoactive plants. Ketamine-assisted therapy, psychedelic retreats and churches who serve shrooms have also become more mainstream. 

The midterms also saw wins for legal recreational weed in Maryland and Missouri, though similar measures failed in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota. There are now 21 states with legal weed for adult-use. 

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