Citizens of Colorado will be voting on Proposition 122, which would allow decriminalization, distribution and access to psychedelics. It will also allow possession, personal use and growing, as well as uncompensated gifting. Is this going to be good for Colorado and personal health?

There is emerging data that components of psychedelics may have medicinal value – importantly, when administered in controlled environments. When taken in uncontrolled environments, the side-effects can be serious, if not deadly.  Colorado, now wants to allow personal growth, transport and gifting in an uncontrolled fashion.

Side effects of these chemicals can include increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, severe vomiting and persistent psychosis, which can be mistaken for other neurological conditions, such as stroke or brain tumor. Where will the warning labels be? Where will public protection be? Should a person with an underlying heart condition be cautioned on use? There have been reports of accidental deaths, seizures, respiratory arrest and coma, all involving psychedelics. Some victims recently poisoned by mushrooms in California required liver transplant and a toddler has “permanent neurologic impairment.”  There will likely be more child poisonings with psychedelics when there is more access.

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This proposition is also under the guise of “natural medicine.” We already have many “natural medicines” available to treat a variety of medical conditions. For example, aspirin comes from the bark of a willow tree. Digitalis, which treats certain heart conditions, comes from the foxglove plant, which, in its natural form, can be toxic and deadly. Taxol, used to treat breast cancer, originates from the Pacific yew tree, and also, in its natural state, is poisonous and can be deadly. The current formulations of these “natural medicines” are strictly regulated to ensure public safety. There is a generally accepted and strict process to develop safe medications which are derived from natural plants which has not yet occurred with psychedelics.

I would encourage the voters to look up psilocybin, mescaline, ibogaine, dimethyltrptamine (DMT),and psilocyn and read the potential side effects. Is this good medicine or good public or personal health, particularly in an uncontrolled fashion? Oregon, which originally planned on allowing clinics to administer psychedelics under supervision, last October, voted to allow psychedelics to be infused into food and food products, such as gummies.

We currently have legal drugs, in the form of alcohol, tobacco and opioids. The public is well aware of the societal impacts these “natural” substances have had on our communities. Simply adding another potential harmful substance into the mix of things, which will be costly to society and families, is not good public health and safety. We cannot claim ignorance.

We, as a community, have an ethical obligation to protect the public’s health and safety until purified and appropriately regulated products are available – ones which have met scientific rigor, have appropriate dosing guidelines established with well-described safety protocols, and provide the public clarity on the qualifications to those who may benefit. The American Psychiatric Association currently has a position statement on the issue and concluded that there is inadequate scientific evidence for endorsing the use of psychedelics to treat any psychiatric disorder except within the context of approved investigational studies

Vote “NO” on Proposition 122 to protect the public health and safety of the citizens of Colorado.

Kenneth Finn, M.D., a Colorado Springs physician, is an editor of the research journal Cannabis in Medicine and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Academy on the Science and Impacts of Cannabis.