How Does Ketamine Fit in With Colorado's Psychedelic Laws? | Westword
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Where Does Ketamine Fit in Colorado's Psychedelic Laws?

Ketamine therapy is legal in Colorado, but not because of the Natural Medicine Health Act.
Cartoon head smokes a joint
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Dear Stoner: Where does ketamine fit in with Colorado's legalized psychedelics? I've seen the clinics, but didn't see it listed with mushrooms on last November's ballot.
Holly

Dear Holly: Ketamine is less accessible in Colorado than magic mushrooms, but more legal across the country. Although not included in Colorado's recently passed Natural Medicine Health Act, ketamine is permitted by the FDA for supervised clinical use. As research has come out about ketamine's potential for mental health treatment, more clinics that use it have sprouted up across the country, including in Colorado.
click to enlarge A bed inside of a ketamine therapy clinic
Ketamine clinics are legal in Colorado, but not thanks to the state's recently enacted Natural Medicine Health Act.
Flickr/Focal Foto
Synthesized and already legal medically, ketamine wasn't included with psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline in Colorado's Proposition 122 language approved last fall. While these naturally occurring substances haven't attained ketamine's federal status, they are now decriminalized here for personal cultivation and possession without clinical supervision. Ideally, national and state psychotherapy laws will meet in the middle.

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