An initiative to legalize psychedelic mushrooms statewide just landed on the ballot after the secretary of state’s office vetted its petition Thursday. But proponents of a different approach to the same issue said they began collecting signatures to offer the Colorados an alternative in November.

For now, Coloradans can expect to vote this fall on the Natural Medicine Health Act. For those aged 21 and over, the measure would decriminalize the possession, growing and gifting of mushrooms containing psilocybin and psilocin, which are hallucinogenic compounds found in certain strains – but it would not allow retail sale.

Instead, the NMHA would legalize state-licensed “healing centers,” where facilitators would administer the substances. NMHA organizer Kevin Matthews said it was essential to give Coloradans a choice: to use the mushrooms alone or in a regulated space.

“Especially people who may have some kind of diagnosis, like major depression or anxiety, these people would probably want – at least initially – to have experience with these natural medicines in a structured and safe setting,” he said. -he declares.

In contrast, Initiative 61, which still needs to collect and submit approximately 124,000 valid signatures to be able to vote, would not legalize these substances, but simply decriminalize them. It would also expand decriminalization to include psilocybin, psilocyne, ibogaine, mescaline, and DMT. These psychedelics, derived from plants and fungi, are all designated Schedule I substances under federal law.

Initiative 61 organizer Melanie Rose Rodgers has warned against implementing a legalization model that would take advantage of “Holy Land drugs.” First, she said, these psychedelics should be decriminalized to protect individuals’ access.

“Decriminalization is not a popular thing for businesses and corporations and venture capitalists,” Rodgers said. “Decriminalization is for the people.”

Initiative 61 would end legal penalties for possessing, using, growing, donating, or delivering these substances for people over 21. It goes further than Denver’s decriminalization initiative, which deprioritized criminal penalties for psilocybin possession and personal use.

Dawn Reinfeld, executive director of Blue Rising Together, a nonprofit advocacy organization against high-THC marijuana, said she opposes both measures. She fears that the mushrooms will easily fall into the hands of children – and that it’s mostly businessmen who are at the table making decisions.

“We’ve seen this playbook before with big tobacco, big pharma, big marijuana, they all come in and make unsubstantiated medical claims,” ​​Reinfeld said. “Colorado is in the midst of an addiction and mental health crisis, and the last thing we need is to introduce psilocybin into the mix.”

Organizers of the measure which has not yet been voted on say it is too early for legalization.

Nicole Foerster, campaign organizer for Initiative 61, worries that Coloradans may see psilocybin as a quick cure, especially if a facilitator or health care provider can administer it.

Some research has shown that psilocybin can potentially benefit people with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Matthews said providing Colorans with this treatment choice was especially important because a nonprofit mental health advocacy organization ranked Colorado the worst state for overall adult mental health this year.

“They’re not like a magic pill. With anything to do with healing, it takes work,” he said. “Our measure, along with the guardrails, with the safety protocols in place, creates a new way for people to deal with the mental and behavioral health challenges they face.”

Foerster takes a different view. They said people shouldn’t be jailed or punished for using these substances, but it’s too early to allow someone to charge for a “healing service” at this stage of the research. They also noted that the health care system is not designed to be safe for marginalized people.

“If Colorado has some of the worst mental health care in the country, that’s the last system we should be pumping these drugs into,” Foerster said. “My main goal is to protect the current access that we know is happening, rather than creating a new framework at this point in history.”

NMHA organizer Veronica Lightning Horse Perez acknowledged that the clinical setting may not be comfortable for some people – and said the decriminalization aspect of the NMHA protects this. But she also said she’s heard people express fears about trying it for themselves.

“Needs and wants are all over the map,” she said. “So for me it comes down to the right to heal and personal sovereignty.”

Initiative 61 organizers said they created the measure in response to the NMHA, specifically to address concerns from some community members and organizers.

When CPR News contacted the NMHA campaign for another interview about 61’s concerns, they declined. They said in a statement that after more than a year of hard work, they are proud of their team and “firmly believe (that they) can help the most people in the safest way with a regulated program, trained facilitators and clear guardrails”.

As for 61, they are on short notice – the last day to deliver signatures to the Secretary of State’s office for verification is August 8. Rodgers said they hope to get enough signatures by then, but it’s difficult because they’re working on a volunteer force and mostly small donations.

One of Rodgers’ biggest issues is funding for the NMHA: about $2.5 million from New Approach PAC, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has helped state cannabis legalization efforts. -United.

In a statement to CPR this month, New Approach Chief of Staff Taylor West said she was personally based in Denver, and that it is their “mission as an organization to support political reform focused on healing and common sense”.

If voters decide to legalize, the state will need to determine what to require of facilitators.

The NMHA establishes that facilitators must undergo training that includes education on client safety, mental and physical health, and social and cultural consideration.

This training would be decided by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, along with the recommendations of a Natural Medicine Advisory Board. DORA would approve or reject licenses under lawful access. This would not apply to personal use and growth of psilocybin, Matthews said.

Foerster said it would give too much power to a small number of people in the state — and they weren’t convinced the council would prioritize those most affected by the problem.

“I’m specifically concerned about people who have battles for their rights in the current healthcare system,” they said. “(If) it’s people who are not part of these specific marginalized populations who are making decisions for these people, that really concerns me.”

The NMHA does not specify that members must hold particular identities. But it sets out certain requirements for the council: The governor, with the consent of the state senate, would appoint 15 members, including at least one member with experience in the traditional native use of natural medicines. He also notes that members should have backgrounds in categories such as culture and natural medicine research; emergency and mental health services; and drug policy and harm reduction.

The NMHA also requires DORA to create a number of rules, including encouraging “demographic and cultural diversity” for licensing natural medicine services.

For Rodgers, who is Filipino, this provision is not enough. She pointed to Colorado’s marijuana industry, where most marijuana licenses are owned by whites, according to state data. A recent report from the Department of Safety found that black people in Colorado were arrested at more than twice the rate of white residents for marijuana-related charges in 2019. Rodgers said she didn’t want to that the same thing happens with psychedelics.

“For me, it was really standing up for that voice for fairness,” she said. “I’m not interested in creating new industries where only rich white men can gamble and make a profit, and people with a history of using these substances won’t be able to pay their way in.”

Whether or not Initiative 61 will join the Natural Medicine Health Act on the ballot remains to be seen. But if either measure is passed, Colorado will become the second state in the nation to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms.