With the recent rollout of Colorado’s psilocybin therapy industry, the state has cemented its place at the forefront of the psychedelic movement. And if all goes well, local leaders hope to create a model that not only serves as a blueprint for other states but also helps inform how psychedelic modalities can be introduced into the broader American health care system.
Colorado policymakers, including Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser, expressed enthusiasm about the potential of these novel mental health treatments at the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver this week.
The five-day event welcomed about 8,000 attendees alongside celebrities, researchers, and representatives of medical groups like the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association.
Though drugs like “magic mushrooms” are not yet widely accepted or accessible as medicines, they are available in Colorado. Voters legalized psychedelic-assisted therapy in 2022 and the first facilities licensed to offer it – known as healing centers – began seeing patients this month.
Weiser, one of the first speakers at the conference, said he was excited about so-called natural medicines, which have shown promise in helping individuals suffering from severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction.
“Colorado voters once again were at the forefront of an important experiment in public health,” Weiser said. “This is something we now have the ability to research, have the ability to support people in ways that before and in generations past were told just to suck it up.”
Polis, too, stated he was proud of the work regulators had done to build a legal framework for businesses and therapists. Doing so was “easier than we thought,” Polis said, but that didn’t overshadow the need to do so thoughtfully and set an example for other states.
“We want to do it in a way where the story out of Colorado and Oregon is one that fundamentally encourages other states to move forward,” he said.
Both Polis and Weiser touted the ability to further research psychedelics as an added benefit of legalization. Because substances like psilocybin are federally scheduled drugs, they are notoriously difficult to procure and study. While the potential benefits have been widely covered, they have so far been extrapolated from small studies and clinical trials, and researchers are only beginning to explore the risks and harms associated with hallucinogens.
“We’re creating pathways for qualified researchers to do research and analysis to elevate our ability to understand the reasons (people) are seeking these services. Of course, we want to understand negative or adverse events, we also want to understand the benefits,” Polis said.
Research and science-backed data will be the key to weaving psychedelic modalities into modern medicine and health care, said Dr. Marketa Wills, CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association. Wills was appointed to her position in 2024 as the organization sought to prepare professionals for the emergence of psilocybin in therapeutic contexts.
She acknowledged that dozens of clinical trials using psychedelics to treat a variety of conditions are currently in the pipeline for consideration by the Food and Drug Administration. If approved, those drugs would be rescheduled and considered medicines available for doctors to prescribe to patients.
It’s not a question of if that will happen, but when, according to Wills. “It’s coming and we all need to get ready,” she said.
Still, there is a hesitance to accept psychedelics in the psychiatric community. Several of APA’s affiliate state branches have opposed some legislation to legalize these substances because of the lack of research into their efficacy and safety profiles. Most physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists have not had training or education on these drugs, so there’s something of “fear” about rushing to use them, she said.
“The APA’s stance is that we understand that there is growing, mounting evidence on all the different compounds,” Wills said. “We support research, we support investigation, but at this time there’s not enough evidence to come down as a position and state ‘we’re ready for this.’”
“We are following that literature very, very closely. We are looking forward to a time where that tipping point will happen, and again, we want to be prepared for that,” she added.
That sentiment, however, is not deterring the public from seeking out psychedelics in Colorado and elsewhere, according to Dr. Andrew Monte, associate director of Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety. Monte and his team at Denver Health recently conducted a survey to identify trends in what they call psychedelic tourism.
Of the 2,124 U.S.-based psychedelics users who were surveyed, about a third (32.3%) traveled to destinations specifically to use them. Colorado was the top destination with 42.9% of travelers choosing a trip here, followed by international locations (38.5%) and Oregon (28.9%).
Of those people who traveled to use psychedelics, most did so for recreational enjoyment. However, Monte is quick to note that a sizeable portion reported having medical conditions such as anxiety and depression.
“Early on, people were coming to Colorado to use medical cannabis, and so we’re seeing a very similar phenomenon here,” Monte said.
“We know that people that travel are more likely to use for medical purposes and that does suggest some people are traveling to treat medical conditions… the fact of the matter is mental health conditions are difficult to treat and there aren’t great treatments, and people are looking for new solutions.”
Monte expects psychedelic tourism will increase as Colorado’s industry gets off the ground, and businesses here appear prepared to meet demand.
In the exhibit hall at Psychedelic Science, Vail company The Psylutions promoted its status as one of the state’s first licensed mushroom cultivators and product manufacturers. Founder Rhonda DeSantis said it will soon begin extracting psilocybin and making edibles for healing centers.
That was good news for Austin Mao, who is preparing to open a healing center called Ceremonia in Golden. He approached DeSantis about becoming a psilocybin provider for his facility, which he hopes to open in August, offering a candid look at how this new industry is emerging from the underground to become a legitimate industry.
“It’s different than going on Signal and messaging my supplier,” Mao said with a laugh.
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