Colorado votes to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms

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Colorado voters have successfully passed legislation that will decriminalize naturally occurring hallucinogenic drugs such as magic mushrooms.

The initiative, which will go into effect toward the end of 2024, will also allow private personal use of psychedelic mushrooms for Coloradans over 21 and permit those individuals to grow psychedelic substances themselves.

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In this Aug. 3, 2007, file photo, psilocybin mushrooms are seen in a grow room at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, central Netherlands. ((AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File))

Proposition 122, also known as the Natural Medicine Act, currently defines natural medicine as "certain plants or fungi that affect a person’s mental health and are controlled substances under state law," according to language on the ballot.

In 2026, a handful of other psychedelic substances could be added to the list of substances falling under "natural medicine" once approved by an advisory board. These additional substances may include dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline.

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Downtown Denver skyline, photographed Nov. 14, 2018.    (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

Advocates say that naturally occurring psychedelics have a long history of helping mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, PTSD and addiction. 

Critics have said these "natural" healing practices operating without oversight by the Food and Drug Administration could prove dangerous to public health.

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Psilocybin, or "magic mushrooms," are seen in an undated photo provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Washington. DEA/Handout via REUTERS.  ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Colorado will be the second state, after Oregon, to decriminalize hallucinogenic substances found in mushrooms that are currently Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.

Similar decriminalizations have also been passed in Washington, D.C.

Fox News' Sophia Slacik contributed to this report.