Cannabis

The Psychedelic Renaissance Continues as Colorado Votes on Legalizing Magic Mushrooms

Taking some cues from cannabis, the movement picks up steam from statehouses to trade groups to popular culture

A block of soil with mushrooms growing on it — Along with the voter initiative in Colorado, there are at least 20 different states, cities and counties currently decriminalizing psychedelics or building a framework to do so.Jon Cartwright/Getty Images

By T.L. Stanley

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Colorado, a pioneer in recreational cannabis sales, could make history again next week if voters pass the Natural Medicine Health Act during the midterm election.

Proposition 122, placed on the ballot after advocates gathered 100,000 more signatures than required, would legalize psychedelic drugs like mescaline and psilocybin, better known as “magic mushrooms,” for medical use.

Oregon was first to the punch, passing a statewide law in 2020, but Colorado will be the latest entrant into what’s become a national movement to lift bans and grant access to formerly verboten substances.

When Oregon voters decided this week to legalize psychedelic drugs—the first state in the country to do so—it brought the conversation around magic mushrooms and their psychoactive brethren into the […]

As Advocates Celebrate a ‘Renaissance,’ Could Psychedelics Become the Next Cannabis?

Psychedelics, whether synthetic or plant- or fungus-based, remain federally illegal and classified as Schedule I narcotics, in the same category as heroin—and cannabis.

But

T.L. Stanley

T.L. Stanley is a senior editor at Adweek, where she specializes in consumer trends, cannabis marketing, plant-based food products, pop culture and creativity.

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