Colorado voters will decide in November whether to decriminalize magic mushrooms

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Thursday that the supporters of Initiative 58 had turned in enough signatures to qualify for the upcoming statewide ballot

Jesse Paul
The Colorado Sun

Denver was the first U.S. city to decriminalize possession and use of psilocybin in May 2019. Some advocates, pursuing statewide initiatives, hope to see the decriminalization of “magic mushrooms” and other psychedelic compounds statewide.
*Olivia Sun/The Colorado Sun*

Colorado voters will decide in November whether to decriminalize the possession and use of “magic” mushrooms and allow the creation of “healing centers” where people would be allowed to purchase and consume those substances.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Thursday that the supporters of Initiative 58 had turned in enough signatures to qualify for the upcoming statewide ballot. The campaign needed 124,632 signatures from Colorado voters to qualify.

Magic mushrooms, which contain the psychoactive compound psilocybin, would be legal on the state level only for people over 21 if the initiative passes. Psilocybin is illegal on the federal level.

The sale of magic mushrooms would be limited to the healing centers, though people would be allowed to cultivate them for personal use.

Local governments would be allowed to regulate healing centers but not completely ban them.

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Now more than ever, your financial support is critical to help us keep our communities informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having on our residents and businesses. Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.

Your donation will be used exclusively to support quality, local journalism.