Colorado’s Department of Revenue has officially set the stage for psychedelic-assisted therapy, finalizing regulations that will allow providers to offer this innovative form of mental health care beginning in 2025.
The newly established rules outline requirements for businesses entering the psilocybin industry as healing centers, cultivators, and manufacturers.
“These therapies will naturally be controversial because they represent a complete paradigm shift in the way mental health services are provided,” said Dr. Brooke Allen, a neurologist at Roaring Fork Neurology. “Using psychedelics as a catalyst to induce meaningful change that is patient-led by their own inner healing ability is very different from the current model of dampening symptoms, and with many fewer side effects and likely better efficacy.”
Colorado’s move towards a psilocybin therapeutic program began with the passage of Proposition 122 by voters in 2022, positioning the state as the second in the nation to implement such a program. Oregon pioneered this effort, launching its state-regulated psilocybin therapy in 2022 following the approval of a similar initiative in 2020.
The framework for Colorado’s psilocybin therapy program is defined by a 2023 law that delegates oversight to two state agencies. The Department of Regulatory Agencies took the lead in June by setting the training and licensing standards for psychedelic therapy facilitators. In August, the Department of Revenue finalized additional regulations that establish licensing procedures for businesses involved in the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and secure storage of psilocybin mushrooms.
With these regulations now in place, the two agencies are expected to determine licensing fees this fall, with applications set to open on December 31. Colorado’s first psilocybin healing centers and therapy providers could begin operating as early as late spring or early summer 2025.
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