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Regulation of Natural Medicine Centers
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Summary and Background Information:
At the November 2022 general election, Proposition 122 was on the ballot to ask voters whether or not to decriminalize and provide for regulated access of certain psychedelic plants and fungi. Colorado voters approved Proposition 122 by over 53% and the licensing and regulating of "natural medicine" will begin on December 31, 2024.
Over the past two years, Governor Polis and the Colorado State Legislature have passed amendments to the Colorado Revised Statutes to provide for the regulation of natural medicine. The Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) and the Department of Regulator Agencies (DORA) have recently approved the final rules and regulations for the licensing of natural medicine facilities and facilitators.
To start, natural medicine will not mirror the state's marijuana regulatory framework. A person will not be able to walk into a retail store and purchase natural medicine to take home or off-site to recreationally consume at their home or elsewhere. Instead, natural medicine will function similar to any other medical or therapeutic treatment that is administered by a licensed professional. Natural medicine can only be administered by a state licensed "facilitator" at a state licensed facility.
Facilitators, regulated by DORA, must have at least 150 training hours from state approved training courses on a variety of topics. A facilitator may be a "clinical facilitator" which is a state licensed therapist, doctor, or other already licensed professional that can administer natural medicine to patients in the course of their existing practice. A "training facilitator" is someone that is working towards facilitator certification and administering natural medicine to patients under the supervision of an already licensed facilitator.
Facilities, regulated by DOR, are any locations which natural medicine is cultivated, processed, tested, or administered. "Healin...
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