There’s another attack on the First Amendment for you to worry about, especially if you live in Colorado. The Centennial State’s Senate approved an epically terrifying social media bill that could require social media platforms to prohibit users from saying anything deemed positive about controlled substances online, including psychedelics legal in the state, specific hemp products, and even some over-the-counter cough syrups.

The bill, officially named SB24-158, is a comprehensive measure that addresses internet age verification and content regulations, mandating that social media platforms promptly delete any user “who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance.”

Originally, the bill would have also applied to cannabis, which is, of course, legal in Colorado. Adults 21 and older can possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants privately. Thankfully, that got scrapped, thanks to an amendment last month from the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen (D), who made sure it includes language noting that “a social media platform may allow a user to promote, sell, or advertise medical marijuana or retail marijuana to users who are at least twenty-one years of age” if the content that the user is posting is in line with state cannabis laws. So, while IGing your legal weed should be fine, be careful about posting anything purchased on the black market or potentially grown illicitly. The Senate, with four members excused, voted 30-1 on Wednesday to pass the revised measure during its third reading.

However, there’s still plenty to be angry over. The revised bill would continue to cover a wide range of both legal and illegal substances. Despite the amendment concerning cannabis, the bill could still pose significant threats for users who attempt to share harmless and legal content about substances as available as cough medicine. 

“The updated version would still prevent users from from promoting NyQuil or anti-anxiety medications among many others, even though it exempts marijuana,” R Street Institute Fellow Shoshana Weismann, told Marijuana Moment last month. “And if you promote those medications, you will be reported to law enforcement. That is asinine.”

Because this isn’t just a rule a private company is creating. It’s the government. 

And as amended, the bill maintains that its reach pertains to certain hemp products, such as those containing over 1.25 milligrams of THC or any with a CBD-to-THC ratio under 20:1. It also includes most other hemp-based products meant for human consumption, so basically anything except for those categorized as dietary supplements, foods, food additives, or herbs.

The state’s psychedelic advocates are concerned. It pits Colorado’s legal drug laws up against government overreach. As Marijuana Moment reports, Kevin Matthews, the director of the campaign in Denver that successfully made the city the first in the U.S. to decriminalize psilocybin, said on Facebook after Wednesday’s vote that the SB24-158 would “make it nearly impossible to even simply talk about plant and fungi medicine on any social media network without state monitoring.” Of course, this not only is worrisome for those who like to post photos of their beautiful fungi, but puts information about safe and responsible usage at risk. Once again, an attempt to regulate and restrict will end up making substances that would usually be very safe and beneficial more dangerous than if people were just let be. 

The measure’s language “severely handicaps the emergent psychedelic ecosystem at all levels to educate the public,” Matthews wrote, “and gives broad powers to a state apparatus to take legal action against individuals for expressing their opinion online.”

Under the proposed legislation, social media companies would need to revise their policies and make them publicly available by July 1, 2025. Any changes to these policies must be posted online within 14 days after they are implemented. The companies would be obligated to annually provide the state attorney general with reports confirming whether their published policies include definitions and provisions related to illicit substances, as per a legislative summary given to a Senate committee. The bill requires companies to keep “all data and metadata related to users’ identities and activities” for one year, which puts users at risk of hackers coming in and stealing such data. 

While the First Amendment is obviously a concern, informed critics warn that the bill infringes on the Fourth Amendment as well, which is meant to protect Americans from unreasonable search and seizures by the government. 

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Activists submitted language for a proposed ballot measure to legalize natural psychedelics in Michigan last week, launching a statewide effort that has seen significant progress at the local level. 

The initiative proposal was submitted to state officials on February 1 by the Michigan Initiative for Community Healing, a ballot committee made up of drug policy reform groups including Decriminalize Nature and Students for Sensible Drug Policy, as well as organizers of local psychedelics decriminalization efforts in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“We are thrilled to have filed our language with the State of Michigan and we look forward to approval by the State Board of Canvassers and hitting the ground with petitions,” said Myc Williams, co-director of Decriminalize Nature’s Michigan chapter.

If passed by voters, the proposed ballot measure would decriminalize the possession, use, cultivation and transfer of entheogenic plants and fungi by adults 18 and older. The legislation would apply to “natural plants and mushrooms” and their active ingredients including psilocybin, psilocyn, mescaline, ibogaine, peyote and dimethyltryptamine. Religious organizations and groups designated by state-certified hospitals would be permitted to cultivate and sell entheogenic plants and fungi.

“It’s a true decriminalization,” Williams said. “Everyone over the age of 18 would be allowed to grow, possess, use, cultivate, share, etc.”

Proposal Includes Broad Drug Reform Provisions for Michigan

The proposed ballot measure also includes broader drug policy reform provisions, including easing criminal penalties for simple possession of all Schedule I and II controlled substances. Possession of 1,000 grams or more of any drug would be reduced from a felony with a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment to a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $1,000. Penalties would get incrementally smaller for possession cases involving lower amounts of controlled substances.

The initiative would also remove testing equipment and supplies from the state’s legal definition of drug paraphernalia. Organizers said the provision would help protect people from harmful additives including fentanyl.

“People who choose to use drugs can be charged with another crime to test their substance… to know in fact what they are ingesting,” Williams said.

“In a time of heavy fentanyl overdoses, it’s really important for people who do use drugs to know what they’re consuming regardless of their legality from a public safety perspective,” Williams explained. “The state supports harm reduction in the distribution of Narcan and fentanyl strips, which fentanyl strips are technically illegal. There’s a contradiction there and we’re just clearing it up.”

Local Decriminalization Efforts See Success

Psychedelics reform efforts in Michigan have already seen significant progress at the local level. In last November’s election, voters in Detroit approved a psychedelics decriminalization measure with the support of 61 percent of the electorate. Ann Arbor passed a similar measure in 2020 and at least a dozen other municipalities have passed psychedelic decriminalization proposals or are in the process of doing so.

The effort has also received support from some law enforcement officials, including Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, who made Ann Arbor’s psychedelics decriminalization measure countywide policy. He noted that “the vast majority of people who engage in substance use are able to do so without criminal consequences.” 

“But for an unlucky few, their decision to use substances results in harsh, life-changing penalties. The War on Drugs has thus created a cruel roulette wheel of sorts,” Savit wrote in a message of support published on the Decriminalize Nature Michigan website. “And it’s a weighted wheel, as the data clearly shows that Black people and people of color are far more likely to face criminal consequences related to drug use than white people.”

For the psychedelics decriminalization initiative to become state law, the summary of the ballot proposal must be approved by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers. Organizers would then have to collect about 340,000 signatures from registered voters for the measure to qualify for the ballot.

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Australia’s medical regulator on Wednesday rejected a bid to approve psychedelics for therapeutic use, saying the risks of the drugs outweigh the potential mental health benefits. In a final decision from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the agency declined to approve an application to amend Australia’s poison standards by reclassifying psilocybin and MDMA as Schedule 8 controlled substances instead of their current status as prohibited substances under Schedule 9.

Under the decision, psychedelic drugs will not be available for use as therapeutic drugs to treat serious mental health conditions, a practice that is gaining acceptance by many therapists. Studies have shown the drugs have the potential to treat depression, anxiety and addiction. 

But the TGA noted that much of the research to date has been conducted in strictly controlled environments, potentially limiting the practical therapeutic value of psychedelics. The agency also cited a fear that legalizing the drugs for therapeutic use would lead to misuse of the drugs in non-clinical applications.

“The benefit is very limited because psilocybin studies indicate only potential therapeutic value in circumstances where the treatment was provided to subjects within the setting of a clinical trial,” the TGA wrote in its December 15 final decision. 

“In relation to the risks, I am satisfied that psilocybin poses a high danger for both acute and long-term effects if abused or misused by way of access outside of strictly controlled medical and scientific research settings,” the author of the agency’s decision wrote. “Given this increased risk to individuals of acute and long-term effects, a high level of control across the supply chain commensurate with Schedule 9 is warranted.”

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists did not support the application to reclassify psilocybin and MDMA, according to the TGA’s statement. The Australian Medical Association also weighed in, calling for more research using larger, high-quality studies to determine the safety and effectiveness of using the drugs therapeutically.

Decision a ‘Step Backward’ for Australia

Dr. John Huber, the founder and CEO of psychedelic therapy consultation platform Tripsitter Clinic, says that “Australia’s decision to reject the use of MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms for clinical use is a step backward.” 

“The declaration that there is not enough research limits Australia’s ability to conduct any research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy,” Huber wrote in an email to High Times. “This form of thinking suppresses progress and portrays 1960s ideologies. The pandemic greatly impacted people’s mental health, and political leaders need to get up to speed and expand access to mental health services in this time of need.”

The CEO of Hawaii-based psychedelic medicines startup Ei.Ventures, David Nikzad, noted that the decision by the TGA is inconsistent with recent psychedelic reform efforts. Canada has taken steps to make psilocybin available to therapists for clinical use, and the legality of magic mushrooms in Jamaica has led to the rise of psychedelic retreats in the Caribbean nation.

Additionally, Oregon has legalized psilocybin for supervised mental health treatment and several U.S. municipalities including Oregon, Detroit, Seattle, Oakland and Denver have passed measures to decriminalize some psychedelic drugs and entheogenic plants and fungi.

“We find this very disappointing and counter to the larger trend of psychedelics being decriminalized or approved for medical use in numerous jurisdictions globally,” Nikzad said. “We hope that Australia comes around once the studies underway give further credence to earlier work that shows the effectiveness of psilocybin use for positive mental health outcomes in clinical settings.”

“It’s really a shame that this outdated thinking is stifling advancement in the important arena of psychedelics and mental health when these natural products could help so many people with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues,” he added.

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