How Psychedelics Legalization Debates Could Differ from Cannabis

The current push to broaden the production, sale, and use of psychedelics bears many parallels to the movement to legalize cannabis in the United States. More than two dozen local jurisdictions have deprioritized the enforcement of some psychedelics laws, and voters in two states—Oregon and Colorado—have passed ballot initiatives to legalize supervised use of psilocybin. The Colorado initiative went further and also legalized a 'grow and give' model for dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline (excluding peyote), psilocin and psilocybin. This is just the beginning, and there are many ways to legalize the supply of psychedelics for non-clinical use. Voters in Massachusetts will soon consider an initiative fairly similar to Colorado's, and an increasing number of bills to legalize some form of psychedelics supply are being introduced in state legislatures, including some that would allow for retail sales. Few of these particular bills, if any, will pass, but it would be naïve to think that more states will not head down the road of legalizing some forms of supply for non-clinical purposes.