Dual Licensure for Facilitators Included in Colorado Draft Rules
Last week, the first draft program rules for facilitators and training programs were presented to the Colorado Natural Medicines Advisory Board. These draft rules reflect thorough and diligent work by the Natural Medicine Advisory Board and regulatory agencies, informed by guidance and input from the HAF Colorado team over the last 10 months.
These rules are also an important step forward and include thoughtful consideration of lessons learned from Oregon’s program, including the notable allowance for mental health practitioners (or other licensed health care practitioners) to act as psilocybin facilitators while wearing “both hats” – known in the healthcare world as dual licensure. This might seem insignificant, or like a logical decision to make, but it is an important step forward for the integration of psilocybin therapy into the mental health care system in particular, and for many reasons political and regulatory, was not initially possible in the Oregon Psilocybin Services program. We are hopeful that with dual licensure, access to psilocybin therapy will be more safe, accessible and affordable in Colorado.
Of course, these are the first round of draft rules, meaning there is much work left to do to narrow down what will ultimately become the regulatory structure for the Colorado program, but these rules certainly leave us feeling optimistic about the road ahead. We will continue to keep you apprised as new updates come and look forward to your engagement in this process.
Onward,
Sam Chapman
Executive Director
UPDATES
Up to Date Numbers on Oregon Psilocybin Services Program Licensing
The following information has been compiled through the OHA’s Psilocybin Services website.
These numbers are updated on a weekly basis and are subject to change. Last updated 2/24/24.
Colorado Program Draft Rules Released
On Friday, February 16th, the Natural Medicine Advisory Board was presented with a draft of the first set of regulations designed to implement certain portions of the Natural Medicine Health Act. These draft rules make it possible to integrate psychedelic care into our traditional healthcare systems by permitting medical and mental health professionals a path to utilize psychedelic care in their existing practices.
These draft regulations also propose thorough rules around Facilitator training requirements and approval of Facilitator Training Programs. Notably, the draft rules permit the pre-approval of training programs and also create a training license so that facilitator applicants may receive real-world supervised training before full licensure.
However, like any first draft, some changes will need to be made and other issues more fully vetted. In particular, mandating that any participant taking psychotropic medication receives medical clearance before receiving natural medicines services may be overly broad, possibly creating a barrier to access to care.
> Read a High-Level Overview
Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) Posts Rulemaking Schedule
The Division of Natural Medicines at DOR is preparing initial draft rules for review and input at a series of work group meetings, kicking off in March and running through July. All members of the public can attend rulemaking meetings and participate in the discussion by signing up to provide comments or submitting written comments. All agendas, draft rules, and any other materials will be posted on the Division’s website at least five days prior to the stakeholder meeting. Additionally, links for each meeting will be posted in advance on the Division’s Rulemaking webpage. Rulemaking meetings will be recorded and posted on the Division’s website by the end of the following business day.
>View the DOR rulemaking schedule
EVENTS
Colorado DORA Stakeholder Meeting to Gather Feedback on Draft Rules
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is hosting a stakeholder meeting to allow the public an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed new rules for facilitator training and licensing. For those unable to attend, there is an option to submit written comments to the agency.
The stakeholder meeting will take place on Friday March 8 at 2pm MT.
> Register for the March 8 stakeholder meeting
Webinar Series: Natural Psychedelic Medicines for Mental Health. Session 3: Training to Facilitate Psychedelic Therapies
In Session 3 of the HAF webinar series in partnership with Mental Health Colorado, we'll be joined by Shannon Hughes, MSW, PhD, Professor of Social Work at Colorado State University, founding member of The Nowak Society, and co-owner of the training program Elemental Psychedelics. From Oregon, we'll be joined by Ana Holub, Director of Facilitation at Omnia Group Ashland, and Kathryn Kloos, ND, Facilitator with InnerTrek.
We’ll review draft rules for facilitator training in Colorado's natural medicine program, and hear from Oregon psilocybin facilitators about their training experience and beginning their practice in Oregon. The session will illuminate some of the subtleties of working with psychedelics and what knowledge and skills are particularly important to develop – with the goal of helping inform considerations around training programs for those interested in pursuing licensure.
With time for Q&A, it should be a rich discussion at a pivotal moment in Colorado when the rules for facilitation are beginning to take shape. We hope to see you there!
> Register for the February 28 session
Session 4: It Takes a Village: Integrative Approaches to Maximize the Benefits of Psychedelic Therapies
March 14 at 12 pm MT
> Register for the March 14 session
Webinar Series: Emerge Law Group.
Session 2: A Postcard from Oregon - Lessons Learned
Join Emerge Law Group on March 7 at 4pm MT for the second installment in a series of in-depth conversations with the community about Colorado’s Natural Medicine Laws. Emerge legal experts will highlight lessons learned from Oregon that will impact Colorado’s natural medicine participants, including topics ranging from novel business structures and 280E tax issues to waivers of liability and land use and zoning considerations, plus more!
> Register for the March 7 webinar
IN THE NEWS
Legal Psychedelic Therapy is Coming for Veterans - But How Long Will They Have to Wait?
Rolling Stone
Oregonians, to their credit, are trying to address the problem. Organizations like the Healing Advocacy Fund are trying to make psilocybin therapy more affordable. The state offers half-price licenses to veterans, and many psychedelic therapy practitioners will work with them on a sliding scale. But we have more than 16 million veterans in America. The estimated 23% of them with PTSD alone equals 3.6 million people. If we’re serious about veterans’ rights to try these therapies, we can’t expect individual nonprofits or practitioners to close that supply gap.
> Read the article
How Psychedelic Drug Therapy Became a Rare Bipartisan Issue in California
CalMatters
Assemblymember Marie Waldron is a Republican from San Diego who was the GOP caucus leader for three years at a time when California’s Democrats were waging a legislative war with Donald Trump. San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener is a Democratic rising star who’s considered a leading candidate to replace one of the right’s biggest villains, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, should the former House speaker retire from Congress.
The pair may not seem to have much in common, but they have formed an unlikely bipartisan partnership on an unusual issue: legalizing psychedelic drugs to treat mental illness.
> Read the article
Oregon's Psychedelic Therapy Law Offers a Potential Guide for Mass. Ballot Question
WBUR
One question on track for November’s ballot would ask Massachusetts voters whether the state should legalize, regulate and tax the use of certain psychedelics for therapeutic purposes. A system already up and running in Oregon offers a glimpse of how some elements might play out. Oregon voters in 2020 approved a law decriminalizing psychedelics and, after a two-year rulemaking period, the first treatment centers opened there last year. Colorado has since followed with its own psychedelics law.
> Read the article
An Inside Look at What Happens During a Psychedelic Therapy Session in Colorado
9News
9NEWS was invited into a psychedelic therapy clinic to observe with cameras what a therapy session with psilocybin mushrooms looks like. In a small room within the bottom floor of a quiet office complex, Erin Wolfe began grinding up psychedelic mushrooms in a bowl as she sat upright in a bed. Soft, ambient music emanated from a speaker.
“I’m really open to being guided,” Wolfe told her psychedelic therapy guide, who sat next to her bed.
> Watch the video
The Big Trip - Colorado Embraces Psychedelic Medicine in Hopes of Mental Health Strides
Montrose Daily Press
Welcome to the new frontier, the razor’s edge, the tip of the spear of mental health treatment. Colorado’s therapeutic landscape is shifting beneath our feet as a pioneering collective of policy advocates and mental healthcare professionals learn to dance across its expanse. “I think the more that I learn the less that I realize I know,” said Dr. Anita Kumar, a psychiatrist with 25 years experience. “That’s where grace comes in, when it comes to psychedelics, is realizing that this is going to be new for everyone.”
> Read the article
European Union Funds Groundbreaking Research Into Psychedelic Therapy for People Requiring Palliative Care
PAREA
A European consortium of 19 partners has been awarded €6,5 million by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme to study psilocybin to treat psychological distress in people with progressive incurable illnesses requiring palliative care. This is the first time the EU is funding a multisite clinical study into psychedelic-assisted therapy. PAREA played an instrumental role in making this project possible and will be involved in its execution.
> Read more