Exciting new treatments and therapies for crippling depression, anxiety and PTSD are emerging before our eyes. The science, especially around psychedelic treatments, is impressive and real. Does that mean voters should decide to open this treatment up to everyone statewide by supporting Proposition 122? Let’s think this through.

So-called “magic mushrooms” do appear to have real medical benefits to people suffering from depression and PTSD who aren’t helped by traditional medications.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone so far as to designate psychedelic mushrooms as a Breakthrough Therapy for treating depression. That designation speeds up research and review since this therapy is seen as being a major improvement over current treatments.

The benefits of these mushrooms are under active research and study. The results that have been reported are significant, and we hope they are borne out through further research.

The stories from people who have used psychedelics to treat their depression are also moving. Depression can be debilitating, and this treatment promises a long-term solution even after just one dose. We think these treatments do offer real hope for people suffering from depression.

We also don’t think it is fair to compare this directly to the legalization of marijuana. Proposition 122 is crafted to not allow retail sales. Patients must use the product on premises at a medical center under the supervision of someone certified to administer the treatment. That is much different than how medical marijuana was rolled out.

That said, this ballot measure would allow for home cultivation of mushrooms and allows for them to be “shared.” This seems like a rather large and concerning loophole.

Despite the potential medical benefit and the fact that retail sales are prohibited, we still do not think the initiative process is the appropriate means to bring this treatment to the public.

This is a treatment with huge promise. We already have a way to get new drugs and treatments approved for medical use – through the FDA. That’s a process that is already on-going. If the FDA concludes that psychedelic mushrooms are beneficial in treating some mental illnesses, that is when they should be made available.

The FDA process will be scientific and rigorous. We think going through that process will lead to more public trust in psychedelic treatments.

Further, who are voters to decide such things? Some of the worst public policy we’ve seen in Colorado has been driven by the initiative process. There are some things voters just are not equipped to determine. The medical safety and effectiveness of a new drug is near the top of the list in our minds of things voters shouldn’t weigh in on.

We understand the system is slow, and advocates see people suffering who may be helped. That doesn’t mean we should be deciding this policy by direct democracy. There is an entire federal bureaucracy dedicated to testing the safety and effectiveness of new drugs.

We are open to new ways of treating mental illness and even hopeful and encouraged by the research around psychedelic mushrooms. We want to see a day when they can be used to help Coloradans on a larger scale, but only after the science is proven and established institutions like the FDA deem these therapies appropriate to roll out to the public under the supervision of a medical professional.

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel Editorial Board