Colorado may be the next state to decriminalize "magic" mushrooms as new research

It wasn’t just the painful tumors or medication that made Alan Floyd sick.

It was the idea that death could come at any time, a brutal fact of his condition that came to dominate his days and grew into night terrors during his sleep.

“It was this monstrous, impending doom of death hanging over me,” Floyd said.

But Floyd found a way to interrupt the cycle of rumination and fear by experimenting with “magic” mushrooms. He’s one of many patients and spiritual seekers in Colorado who have sought healing and relief from mushrooms and other psychedelic substances, despite a federal prohibition.

Alan Floyd, 57, who is being identified by a pseudonym, was given a terminal diagnosis in 2006 when doctors found tumors growing rapidly along his spine. After tapering off opioids in 2017, he decided to experiment with psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms,” under supervision of his psychiatrist. “Within two weeks after starting the psilocybin, I didn’t have any more panic attacks, and I haven’t had one since,” said Floyd. “And that was four years ago.” He is currently microdosing mushrooms and LSD every few days, and takes large doses a few times a year. Floyd said the regular doses and psychedelic experiences have helped him come to terms with his terminal diagnosis. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

Although recent research showing the healing potential of these drugs has spurred renewed interest, mushrooms and naturally derived psychedelics like mescaline, ibogaine and dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, have been used by people for centuries. It’s only in the past 50 years that they were considered illegal.

Now advocates are hoping Colorado will join Denver and a growing number of cities and states that are decriminalizing mushrooms and other psychedelics. They’re working on initiatives that, if approved for the November ballot, would ask voters to eliminate criminal penalties under state law for possession, use and cultivation of certain psychedelic substances.

The statewide effort comes after psychedelic drug advocates successfully passed a 2019 Denver measure that decriminalized adult possession and use of psilocybin, the psychoactive substance in so-called magic mushrooms, and made it the lowest priority for local law enforcement. But disagreements are forming already among advocates backing the effort, who remain divided over what statewide decriminalization should entail.

MORE: With Denver’s vote on magic mushrooms, will Colorado anchor a psychedelic medicine revolution?

Kevin Matthews, a proponent of Denver’s 2019 decriminalization measure, is pushing initiatives to create a regulatory system that would allow people 21 and older to seek psychedelic therapy at state-sanctioned centers.

“They’re not a panacea,” Matthews said. “But I think we have an opportunity to powerfully treat a lot of mental health…