Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, writing for Westword:
Twenty months after Denver voters approved decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms, the leader of that surprisingly successful campaign has set his sights on statewide decriminalization.
"If we’re working toward decriminalizing psilocybin and creating a regulatory model in the state of Colorado, it’s so much more effective to get it done in the legislature than to spend $5 million to $8 million on a ballot initiative and a campaign," says Kevin Matthews, the former head of Decriminalize Denver who recently registered as a Colorado lobbyist.
Matthews plans to lobby lawmakers in order to build enough support to pass a Colorado decriminalization bill by 2022, if not sooner. "If we can introduce a bill this session, then we certainly want to do that," explains Matthews, an Arvada resident and former West Point cadet. But he understands that lawmakers might not be ready for such a proposal in 2021 and, if that's the case, he says he'll focus on "building out the foundation this year, using this as an educational year, and getting in front of lawmakers."
Following on the heals of yesterday’s announcement that the newly-formed Plant Medicine Coalition is working toward the federal decriminalization of natural psychedelics, this psilocybin decriminalization attempt out of Colorado is yet more encouraging news.