The first two months of 2023 have shown expansive interest in bold drug policy reform in state legislatures across the country—most recently, with the introduction of numerous new bills touching on everything from psychedelics legalization to authorizing safe drug consumption sites.
Lawmakers in several states will conduct hearings on such reform proposals over the next week.
The marijuana legalization movement continues to spread and evolve, but it’s become quickly apparent this session that legislators are eager to more holistically move away from prohibition and criminalization. Drug decriminalization, harm reduction and psychedelics reform have emerged as central to that effort.
Here’s an overview of some of the latest drug policy reform bills that lawmakers are filing across the country:
Colorado
In Colorado, Rep. Elisabeth Epps (D) is sponsoring a bill that would permit cities to authorize the establishment of “overdose prevention centers” where people could use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment and receive treatment resources.
The “Local Control of Life-saving Overdose Prevention Centers Act” would provide people with access to sterile consumption equipment, fentanyl testing tools, counseling, substance use treatment referrals and “other harm reduction services,” the bill text says.
“Preventable drug overdoses are a public health crisis
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