Psychedelic Therapy Begins In Colorado, Causing Conservatives, Veterans To Clash

“I’m very positive about the potential value, but I’m very concerned that we’ve gotten too far ahead of our skis,” said Jeffrey Lieberman, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, who’s been involved in studies of psychedelic drugs’ therapeutic efficacy.

Psilocybin is far more restricted in Colorado than marijuana, which the state legalized in 2014. Psilocybin is decriminalized but there won’t be recreational dispensaries for the substance, which will be largely confined to licensed businesses and therapy sessions with licensed facilitators.

At a city council meeting in Colorado Springs this month, members were set to vote on extending the state prohibition on healing centers from 1,000 feet to 1 mile from certain locations, such as schools. From the lectern, veterans implored them not to.

A psychedelic experience with psilocybin, said Belone, helped him connect the fear that attached to him in the warzone to the ceaseless anxiety at home — it didn’t solve everything overnight, he said, but it allowed him to better identify when that humming fear was getting in the way of a joyful life.

This week, companies and people will be able to apply for licenses to administer the mind-altering drug, though treatment will likely not be available for some months as applications are processed.

The risks, said Lieberman, include customers being misled and paying out of pocket for expensive treatments. He also said there are cases where the drugs can exacerbate some extreme mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia.

“This is a crisis that we are in, and this is a tool that we can add to our toolbox,” said Taylor West, executive director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, which advocates for psychedelic therapy.

Other Colorado Springs city councilmembers raised concerns that the Food and Drug Administration has not approved psilocybin to treat mental health conditions and, in August, rejected the psychedelic MDMA to treat PTSD. A number of clinical trials are still underway for both drugs.

Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Patients will have to go through a risk assessment, preliminary meetings, then follow-up sessions and remain with a facilitator while under the drug’s influence. The psilocybin will also be tested, and the companies that grow them regulated by a state agency.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — As Colorado becomes the second state to legalize psychedelic therapy this week, a clash is playing out in Colorado Springs, where conservative leaders are restricting the treatment over objections from some of the city’s 90,000 veterans, who’ve become flagbearers for psychedelic therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Still, he continued, “Do I think that it’s helpful to not just veterans but to individuals? Probably so. Do I think it still needs to be tested under strict requirements? Yes.”

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