Decriminalization Models: Oregon, Colorado, and What Comes Next

“Oregon's Measure 110 decriminalized all personal drug possession in 2020. The legislature repealed it in 2024. The lesson: services without social investment cannot hold politically.”

Oregon passed two ballot measures in November 2020: Measure 109 (regulated psilocybin services) and Measure 110 (decriminalizing personal possession of all drugs). By 2024, Oregon's legislature had repealed Measure 110. The drug decriminalization portion collapsed under political pressure and implementation difficulties, the provision replacing criminal penalties with health assessments required social service infrastructure that was not ready when the law took effect.

Colorado's Proposition 122 attempted to combine both: regulated healing center access alongside personal decriminalization. Colorado's approach is still being implemented and has not faced the legislative reversal Oregon's decriminalization did.

As of mid-2026, psychedelic reform is advancing simultaneously in multiple states through multiple models. New Mexico's medical psilocybin program became operational in 2025, the first to pass through a legislature rather than a ballot. New Jersey signed a $6 million psychedelic research initiative in January 2026. Massachusetts has multiple competing bills advancing. Alaska is gathering signatures for a 2026 ballot initiative.

The diversity of models is itself informative. The comparative data on outcomes will eventually produce a clearer evidence base for what works. McKenna's argument provides no blueprint, only the premise: these plants belong to the commons. The regulatory implementation of that premise requires environmental impact assessments and state licensing boards, which is not what he predicted, but is what is happening.

Sources

• Wikipedia Psilocybin decriminalization in the United States
• Cannabis magazine report, Psychedelic Reform (April 2026)
• Reason Foundation State Psychedelics Policy Roundup (2025)