House committee advances bill to align Colorado with federal rescheduling of FDA‑approved therapeutics

The House Health and Human Services Committee on the hearing’s agenda advanced Senate Bill 31, a measure that would allow Colorado to treat an FDA‑approved prescription product that contains a Schedule I substance as available in state law after the Drug Enforcement Administration determines an appropriate rescheduling.

Sponsors said the narrow bill is designed to prevent unnecessary delay between federal approval and state availability and to ensure consistent regulatory treatment nationwide. "When the federal government determines the medication is safe, effective, and appropriate for medical use, Colorado is ready," a sponsor said while urging support for the measure.

Witnesses described the federal pipeline and clinical safeguards. Dr. Andrew Novick, a board‑certified psychiatrist involved in psychedelic research, described the multi‑step FDA and DEA process and said many candidate therapeutics in late‑stage trials target severe mental‑health conditions resistant to existing treatments. "SB 31 ensures that when a psychedelic compound is approved and federally rescheduled, Colorado will automatically follow, removing that compound from the state schedule," Novick said.

Advocacy and industry witnesses urged alignment and readiness. Ashley Parellis of Mental Health Colorado said delays can cause "real world harm by slowing access to care," and Gretchen Schaub of Definium Therapeutics stressed that the bill simply removes state‑level barriers once federal regulators have cleared a product.

Committee members asked about likely examples and clinical settings. Witnesses named substances under study (psilocybin, DMT, 5‑MeO‑DMT, MDMA, LSD) and said administration would typically occur in supervised clinical settings rather than by patients self‑administering at home.

The committee adopted two stakeholder amendments: L3 clarified that appropriately licensed non‑physician medical practitioners may administer approved medications; and L004 ensured the bill would not affect the state constitutional framework governing marijuana. Both amendments passed without objection, and the committee moved the bill, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole by a unanimous 13–0 roll call.

Why it matters: Sponsors and witnesses framed the bill as a narrow, safety‑oriented fix to avoid unnecessary state‑level delays in patient access to federally approved therapeutics, particularly for treatment‑resistant mental‑health conditions.

What’s next: The bill will be considered by the Committee of the Whole with the sponsor team’s amendments in place.