We’ll say it again: The ballot issue that hoodwinked Colorado voters into legalizing hallucinogens two years ago was a charade. It was backed by big money from out of state and pitched disingenuously as a way to provide “therapy” for mental health issues. It actually was a scheme to launch yet another recreational drug industry alongside retail marijuana.

The hoodwinking continues, it seems, in the wake of a state hearing finalizing regulations for dispensing the dangerous drugs. The outcome is practically foreordained to put mind-bending hallucinogens such as psilocybin and mescaline in the backpacks of schoolkids.

The newly established Natural Medicine Advisory Board — part of a new bureaucracy called the Natural Medicine Division, created by November 2022’s Proposition 122 — essentially rolled over and played dead for the burgeoning psychedelics industry. The reckless new state regulations that have emerged from the board’s hearing are an invitation to abuse by kids.

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The rules allow the so-called magic mushrooms to be consumed in various forms — as whole mushrooms, teas, capsules, tablets and tinctures, but also as chocolates and gummies.

That’s right; as has been the case with legalized, hyper-potent THC concentrates from marijuana, the hallucinogens will be available in forms that are bound to lure curious kids. Or, unwitting ones.

“When it comes to marijuana, we’ve seen the surge of accidental ingestions of candylike edibles by kids. It appears we’ll have to learn these same lessons over again when it comes to psychedelic drugs but with even higher stakes for kids,” warned Henny Lasley of the watchdog group One Chance To Grow Up.

All of which is over and above the ballot issue’s inherent quackery to begin with. It’s the notion that advanced mental and emotional disorders can be treated with powerful, reality-altering drugs — without a medical professional anywhere in sight. Instead, when the rules take effect next year, the drugs will be dispensed by “facilitators” at licensed “healing centers.”

Proposition 122 was sold to the voting public as a way for sufferers of maladies such as PTSD to cope. Veterans seemed to be a favorite poster child of the disingenuous campaign. The purported benefits of hallucinogens in treating mental health issues were widely touted by Proposition 122’s slick and well-oiled campaign.

In fact, there has been scant research evidence supporting the use of hallucinogens in treating mental health maladies. A major development this year cast further doubt on therapeutic value. A key advisory committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that the proposed use of the hallucinogen MDMA, pitched by pharmaceutical giant Lykos Therapeutics, is not an effective PTSD treatment.

And if research does conclude there is potential for hallucinogens in treating disorders, the drugs should be strictly regulated and prescribed only by medical professionals.

Make no mistake; the facilitators and their healing centers aren’t merely an earnest if naive attempt at “natural medicine,” however much they might market themselves as latter-day hippies. They are, in fact, the kindly guise of a cynical big business.

It’s not really about therapy but money.

While the ballot issue and its ensuing rules don’t allow for retail sales per se, you can bet money will change hands. After all, growing psychedelic mushrooms for “personal use” also will be permitted. A grower will be able to “give” the product to others but not sell it. Yeah, right.

Therapy? Oh, please. Just follow the money.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board