It was only fitting that the campaign behind a statewide ballot issue recklessly legalizing hallucinogenic drugs would itself be illusory. Not only did its shadowy backers refuse to show up at public forums to defend their proposal’s obvious dangers, but their entire, multimillion-dollar bid, funded by the national legalization lobby, was deceptive to begin with.

Proposition 122, narrowly OK’d by Colorado voters Tuesday, will unleash psilocybin, psilocin and a host of other hallucinogens on Colorado’s streets, schools and playgrounds.

Bankrolled by the Washington, D.C.-based New Approach political action committee, the Prop. 122 campaign bombarded Colorado’s press and public for months with slickly packaged propaganda. It peddled the proposal, preposterously, as a way to address depression, PTSD and other psychological and emotional problems.

Even after the election, the campaign was still at it, issuing a news statement Thursday lauding the approval of “psilocybin therapy” via Colorado’s Prop. 122 and a related measure on Oregon’s statewide ballot.

“More than a million voters in Colorado and Oregon stood up and said people deserve safe access to this breakthrough tool to address our mental health crisis,” gushed a spokesperson.

All of which is a sham, of course. Prop. 122 is nothing more than a cynical, phony backdoor approach to legalizing mind-bending drugs for recreational use. The drugs will be dispensed at “healing centers” – which can be private residences – licensed by the state. Technically, the measure doesn’t allow retail sales, but it will allow growing hallucinogen-yielding mushrooms for personal use. A grower will be able to “give” it away to anyone 21 or older.

As we noted here before in urging a “no” vote on Prop. 122, it’s an unenforceable farce. Money will change hands just as it does for any dangerous street drug.

The claim that it’s for mental health makes a mockery of the real mental health crisis. The only safe way to address that is through licensed medical professionals.

Certainly, there is some research tentatively supporting the use of hallucinogens in treating some disorders. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recognized psilocybin’s potential in treating depression, and researchers have found promise in using psilocybin to treat alcohol addiction.

Yet, that all the more makes the case for letting the pros at the FDA vet such drugs and, if they pass muster, approve them – only for prescription use authorized by licensed medical practitioners.

Such rigor and safeguards couldn’t be further from the agenda of the people behind Prop. 122. All they really want is even more ways to get high for kicks.

Still, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt – and call their bluff – in helping the state set specific standards for licensure as called for in the ballot measure.

The Colorado state Department of Regulatory Agencies is supposed to set education and training requirements for the “licensed facilitators” who will dish out the drugs. OK, then let’s make sure those facilitators are psychiatrists – i.e., M.D.s licensed to practice medicine in Colorado – who are authorized by law to write prescriptions. And let’s make sure the drugs themselves only can be given out by prescription – to patients in need.

Here’s a chance for Prop. 122’s backers, including the so-called Healing Advocacy Fund – which bills itself as “dedicated to the thoughtful and effective development and implementation of state-level psychedelic therapy programs” – to demonstrate their commitment to responsible implementation. Are they with us?

If hallucinogens have real therapeutic value, then let’s rely on real doctors, not hippie shamans, as gatekeepers.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board