Colorado House Passes Bill To Legalize MDMA After Federal Approval, Sending It To The Senate
Colorado House Passes Bill To Legalize MDMA After Federal Approval, Sending It To The Senate
MJ moment
The Colorado House of Representatives recently approved a bill that would align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use, sending it to the Senate. The bipartisan and bicameral legislation—sponsored by Reps. Patrick Neville (R) and David Ortiz (D), along with Sens. John Cooke (R) and Joann Ginal (D)—passed third and final reading on the floor in a 53-2 vote last week. That action came just days after the bill was amended and approved by the House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee.
Unfortunately for advocates, that panel also rejected separate legislation to create a psychedelics review panel to study substances like psilocybin and DMT and issue recommendations on possible policy changes. The MDMA legislation approved by the House, meanwhile, would legalize “prescribing, dispensing, transporting, possessing, and using” MDMA if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the substance as a prescription drug. While the floor vote on final passage didn’t include debate of the proposal, there was some brief discussion one day earlier when the bill was considered on second reading in the chamber. Neville, one of the bill sponsors, said that MDMA has “been proven to be extremely, extremely effective in treatment of PTSD.” And so he wants to ensure that Colorado is prepared to provide that treatment option pending a federal policy change.
“The medication, what it truly does—and I can speak to this personally having gone through therapy for PTSD—is the medication is truly just a catalyst for the therapy to work because it opens the person up to actually explain about their circumstances,” he said. There were some technical amendments that had been adopted in committee, as well as one change to the language of the findings section of the…
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