Colorado officials will hold online hearings to gather public opinions on Colorado’s efforts to implement psychedelic decriminalization measures. The state became one of the first regions in the country to pass psychedelic policy after Colorado voters approved a measure to decriminalize several psychedelics for adults aged 21 years and older, setting the state on a path to legalize and regulate psilocybin “healing centers.”
Colorado is now seeking public views on implementing psychedelic decriminalization in the state, specifically how the public believes a regulated psychedelic program should look and function. This includes how to train first responders to address psychedelic-related medical emergencies, how Colorado will educate the public about hallucinogens, and how the state will test for psychedelics to ensure residents are compliant with regulations.
Officials will hold one-hour online sessions on Sept. 5, 12, 22, 27, and Oct. 3 to hear public opinions on a variety of issues related to psychedelic legalization in the state. This also includes how to train first responders to address psychedelic-related medical emergencies, how Colorado will educate the public about hallucinogens, and how the state will test for psychedelics to ensure residents are compliant with regulations.
Officials will also take public opinions on how to regulate psychedelic cultivators and manufacturers as well as how Colorado could rely on historical and traditional psychedelic cultivation practices while crafting psychedelic regulations. Regulators hope to gather comments from both the general public and people associated with the psychedelic industry to help inform their regulation efforts.
The senior director of the Department of Revenue’s Natural Medicine Division and Marijuana Enforcement Division Dominique Mendiola wondered what indigenous community members might be thinking now that the state is actively working to implement psychedelic legalization.
While interest in psychedelics among the general public has exploded in recent years thanks to an influx of studies associating psychedelics with mental-health benefits, indigenous communities in the Americas and other parts of the world have used psychedelics for more than a thousand years. Members of some Indigenous communities have protested their lack of involvement in state and nationwide discussions regarding psychedelics, their potential mental health benefits and the multibillion industry they could potentially spawn.
The Department of Revenue (DOR) will host the online sessions and use the data it gathers to inform its efforts to craft cultivation and manufacturing rules for the nascent psychedelic industry. The DOR will also provide first responders with the training they will need to deal with psychedelic-related emergencies and track adverse health events and law enforcement incidents related to psychedelics, consumer protection claims, impacts on behavioral health and the impact of psychedelic legalization on Colorado’s healthcare system.
As the authorities in Colorado seek input on how they can implement the law on psychedelic decriminalization, enterprises such as Compass Pathways PLC (NASDAQ: CMPS) are making headway in developing psychedelic-based formulations that could be approved by the FDA and availed via doctors’ prescription.