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There are 28 states exploring legislation or policies for legal "magic mushroom" therapy.
An organization born out of Oregon’s 2020 psilocybin-legalizing ballot measure has a new executive director from Denver.
Taylor West is taking the reins of the Healing Advocacy Fund from Sam Chapman, who is moving on to other endeavors in June. The nonprofit fund advocates for and provides education around psilocybin in Colorado and Oregon.
West noted changing public attitudes around psychedelics.
“I’ve watched as this topic is something people are curious about, openminded about and willing to change their mind about when given good information, which is such a rare thing nowadays, she said.
West says the change indicates “how much people are searching for better ways to improve mental health and mental illness and recognizing what we have now is not working for everyone and people are searching for better tools to add to the toolbox.”
The Denver resident served as an adviser to Oregon’s pioneering initiative that authorized therapeutic use of psilocybin. West also was a leader of Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act campaign in 2022, which successfully advocated for legalizing therapeutic uses of “magic mushrooms” in Colorado.
The state’s Proposition 122 ballot initiative won voter approval in November that year. In addition to legalizing personal possession and use for adults at least 21 years old, it authorized supervised therapeutic uses of psychedelics within licensed healing centers.
Colorado has been crafting rules this spring and expects to begin issuing licenses for healing centers and facilitators by the end of this year.
Oregon’s program launched last year and has served 3,500 clients to date.
West has also worked with other psilocybin organizations, including the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative and New Approach, a political organization that supported Oregon’s Measure 109, and co-created the U.C.-Berkeley Psychedelics Survey.
West said the Oregon program’s reach in just the first year has been remarkable.
There are now 27 licensed service centers around Oregon, the only places adults can legally partake of psychedelic mushrooms under the supervision of a licensed facilitator, of which there are 326. While Oregon’s program is not therapeutic, per se, studies have shown psilocybin can be effective in treating depression, anxiety and PTSD.
Heidi Pendergast, the Healing Advocacy Fund’s Oregon director, said she expects 7,000 people to participate in psilocybin sessions this year, twice as many as last year.
“A quiet revolution is happening, where people are learning about and understanding this and seeing family and friends going through a life-changing experience,” Pendergast said.
Now 28 states are considering some form of legislation or policy related to psychedelics, the fund says.
“We’re learning so much in these early states,” West said. “We’re setting ourselves up to build these programs and help them expand to other states and heal more people.”
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Denver woman hired to lead psilocybin advocacy group as psychedelic therapy spreads – The Business Journals
