Colorado Governor Demands Pardon for Psychedelic Convictions

After his state’s groundbreaking new law legalizing psychedelic drugs, the governor of Colorado wants to go further.

Jared Polis, the Democrat who was elected to his second term as state governor last year, said Wednesday he wants Colorado lawmakers to give him the ability to pardon people accused of crimes involving psychedelics like psilocybin -Mushrooms were arrested.

“Anyone who has something on their criminal record that is now legal can have it wiped and will not deter them from future employment opportunities,” Polis said at the Psychedelic Science conference taking place in Denver this week, as quoted by Axios.

“It’s still ridiculous that today someone suffering from anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder can get health insurance for very expensive prescription drugs, but can’t get coverage for treatment at a healing center that addresses some of the underlying causes of the issue addressed,” the governor added.

Polis’ comments come less than a month after he signed a bill that will create a regulatory framework for psychedelic drugs. The bill was a by-product of last year’s Proposition 122 voter initiative and will officially go into effect on July 1.

The measure “legalized therapeutic psilocybin and decriminalized the personal cultivation, use, and exchange of psilocybin mushrooms and three other natural psychedelics (DMT, ibogaine, and non-peyote derived mescaline),” according to local outlet Westworld.

“Although licensed psilocybin therapy centers could open by the end of 2024, Prop 122 did not allow retail operations to open, only healing centers, so no mushroom stores like the hundreds of cannabis dispensaries are currently springing up in Colorado,” Westworld said last month reported.

Reporting at the Psychedelic Science conference this week, Westworld noted that Polis [who] “has never publicly endorsed Prop 122, but has praised it since the measure passed, telling the crowd that he has ‘no personal connection’ to psychedelic medicine,” but his support of psychedelic use is based on “values” and is about ” body autonomy”.

“We face very difficult challenges in mental and behavioral health and we are very excited by the opportunities,” Polis said, quoted by Westworld. “In many of these areas, including cannabis, the people of our state, not the politicians, have been in the lead.”

The governor said at the conference that he envisions a significant expansion of the state’s psychedelic laws, including changes that would allow psychedelic therapy to be covered by insurance in Colorado.

“Yes, that’s right. People don’t have to go to Mexico or Colombia anymore. They can come straight here to Colorado,” Polis said, quoted by Westworld.

“Once it is designated as a drug at the federal level, it will be immediately rescheduled in Colorado,” the governor added. “We want people to say … Colorado got that right. I’m sure we’ll get a few things wrong, but we can learn from it and build on it.”

After a majority of Colorado voters approved Prop 122 in November, parts of the initiative went into effect in December last year.

“Coloradans voted last November and participated in our democracy,” Polis said at the time. “Official validation of the results of the citizens’ initiatives and the proposed initiatives is the next formal step in our work to follow the will of the voters and implement these voter-approved actions.”

About 53% of Colorado voters approved of Proposition 122 in last year’s election.

Psychedelics were officially decriminalized in Colorado after Polis certified the measure in December.