First responders across Colorado will soon have access to training designed specifically to bolster psychedelic crisis response and intervention.
The training, developed by the , seeks to provide emergency responders with education, de-escalation practices, and other tools they can use when interacting with individuals experiencing altered states of consciousness — all of which can help reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and arrests as well as trauma often associated with these types of interactions, the organization said in a statement.
Colorado’s Natural Medicine Division recently announced to disseminate the Psychedelic Crisis Assessment and Intervention training to local police, firefighters, and emergency medical agencies across the state. The curriculum’s video lessons and assessments will be made available for free by mid-June.
Though the training is not mandatory, it brings regulators in line with statute, which dictates they develop and promote training resources for frontline emergency professionals to use amidst broader drug policy reform.
Topics covered in the training include the psychological and physiological effects of ingesting psychedelic substances like psilocybin, which is one compound in “magic mushrooms”; potential adverse effects of psilocybin; and best practices and techniques for assessing, de-escalating and managing psychedelic crises, also known as harm reduction. Education also addresses legal considerations and the evolving role of first responders in a changing policy environment.
Over the last several years, regulators have heard from people both in the first responder and law enforcement communities, as well as stakeholders and industry advocates, that access to this kind of training is important.
“Our goal is to empower emergency professionals with knowledge grounded in evidence and compassion, so they can respond effectively and humanely when encountering individuals in altered states,” Allison Robinette, director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs for the natural medicine and marijuana enforcement divisions, said in a statement. “This training and collaboration is a vital step in our ongoing commitment to uphold public safety for individuals accessing natural medicine in the regulated space and in the personal use space.”
The partnership comes two years after MAPS worked with the City of Denver to train first responders using the same curriculum. The Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel originally commissioned MAPS to develop the training after the Mile High City became the nation’s first to effectively decriminalize “magic mushrooms” in 2019. It took three years and more than 20 experts, both at MAPS and beyond, to create the curriculum.
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Colorado is now the first state to license MAPS’ training and make it available to all agencies that want or need it at the local level. The timing feels especially pertinent, as the effects of drug policy reform continues to shake out here.
In 2022, Colorado voters simultaneously legalized psychedelic therapy and decriminalized five different substances. Psilocybin mushrooms are now legally available at state-licensed “healing centers,” including at one cafe in Denver that specializes in microdosing, bolstering what researchers at Denver Health call to the state. Under decriminalization, residents ages 21 and up can grow, possess, use and share a personal amount of drugs like ‘shrooms, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), mescaline and ibogaine without fear of criminal consequences.
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As individual drugs become more available and more culturally acceptable, the number of people using them tends to increase — and so, too, does the potential for adverse events. Thatap why education is needed alongside policy reform, public health experts have previously told The Denver Post.
“First responders play a critical frontline role in public safety, and their training directly shapes outcomes for individuals experiencing mental health crises,” said Ismail Ali, co-executive director of MAPS in a statement. “As policies evolve and access to psychedelics expands due to legal status, media hype, or changes in cultural norms, it is essential that any response from trained professionals — in the rare but real cases when they are needed — is informed by evidence, grounded in compassion, and focused on safe de-escalation.”
