DENVER (KDVR) — A newly appointed board will guide Colorado’s voter-approved law to regulate psilocybin, and it will consider whether the state should allow other psychedelics in the future.
The Natural Medicine Advisory Board “will advise the Department of Regulatory Agencies on the implementation of the regulated natural medicine access program.” That’s according to a release from Gov. Jared Polis’ office, which announced on Friday that 15 board members were appointed.
The list includes three representatives “of traditional and indigenous use” of the medicines and two with expertise in the medicines themselves. Another two represent veterans’ issues, while the others represent issues within health care and public policy.
Natural medicine, under the law, includes psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline, all of which are now decriminalized in Colorado for people 21 and older. The law also allows regulated psilocybin to be administered at licensed “healing centers” as a form of therapy.
One of the new board’s tasks is to consider whether to allow the other three decriminalized psychedelics — DMT, ibogaine and mescaline — under the legally regulated program. The board could recommend adding them as soon as 2026.
The board will also recommend regulations and rules for the program, education and training for facilitators and “affordable, equitable, ethical and culturally responsible access,” among other duties.
Who’s on Colorado’s ‘Natural Medicine’ board
Polis’ office named and described the board members as listed below.
Terms expire Jan. 31, 2025, for these board members:
- William Dunn, NRP, FP-C, of Avon, to serve as a representative of emergency medical services and services provided by first responders
- Billy Wynne, J.D., of Greenwood Village, to serve as a representative of health care insurance and healthcare policy and public health, drug policy and harm reduction
- Sofia Chavez, Ph.D., of Lakewood, to serve as a representative of traditional and indigenous use and religious use of natural medicine
- Bradley Conner, Ph.D., of Fort Collins, to serve as a representative of natural medicine therapy, medicine and research
- Wendy Buxton-Andrade, of Lamar, to serve as a representative of levels and disparities in access to health care services among different communities
- Skippy Upton Mesirow, of Aspen, to serve as a representative of permitted organization criteria
- Ernestine Gonzales, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., of Colorado Springs, to serve as a representative of health care insurance and health care policy, past criminal justice reform efforts in Colorado, and disparities in access to healthcare services among different communities
Terms will expire Jan. 31, 2027, for these board members:
- Heather Lundy Nelson, M.A., of Denver, to serve as a representative of mental health and behavioral health providers and disparities in access to health care services among different communities
- Dr. Suzanne Sisley, of Scottsdale, Arizona, to serve as a representative of mycology and natural medicine cultivation
- Katina Banks, J.D., of Denver, to serve as a representative of permitted organization criteria
- Ricardo Baca, of Denver, to serve as a representative of traditional indigenous use and public health, drug policy, and harm reduction
- Dr. Alisa Hannum to serve as a representative of mental and behavioral health providers and issues confronting veterans
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D., of Denver, to serve as a representative of traditional indigenous use and religious use
- Joshua Goodwin, Ph.D., of Aurora, to serve as a representative of issues confronting veterans
- Sheriff David Lucero, of Pueblo, to serve as a representative of past criminal justice reform in Colorado