OPINION: Fear-based Rhetoric in the Debate Over Therapeutic Psychedelics

This op-ed by Brandon Sklar appeared on Colorado Newsline on May 20, 2025.

In his recent commentary, “Psychedelic centers create a danger to kids and exacerbate Colorado’s mental health crisis,” Luke Niforatos argues against the legal use of psilocybin and the emerging infrastructure surrounding it. While his concerns span topics from facilitator qualifications to federal drug scheduling to child safety, his argument leans heavily on fear-based rhetoric and misinformation.

As a psychiatrist and licensed psilocybin facilitator, I offer a different view — one grounded in research, clinical experience, and a commitment to truth over alarmism.

Niforatos argues that psilocybin is dangerous because it’s a Schedule I drug and lacks Food and Drug Administration approval. But those labels are not reliable markers of safety — they’re often shaped by outdated political bias and institutional inertia, not scientific evidence.

There is a vast body of research supporting the use of psilocybin for various psychiatric conditions. Institutions like Johns Hopkins and New York University have demonstrated its potential to treat depression, PTSD and addiction.

The FDA has approved countless psychiatric medications that carry serious risks, including increased suicidality. As a psychiatrist, I’ve treated thousands of patients whose lives were made worse by these medications — people left numb, disconnected and hopeless. I’ve seen firsthand how little those official stamps of approval can mean when these treatments not only fail to heal— but actively inflict harm.

Pointing to psilocybin’s legal status and saying that alone means it’s not safe ignores the science — and the people it’s already helping.

Many facilitators are licensed mental health professionals
The claim that natural medicine facilitators are unqualified is not just wrong — it’s insulting. I’m a board-certified psychiatrist and licensed psilocybin facilitator. I know dozens of others across Colorado who are licensed psychologists, social workers and therapists — professionals who have spent their careers helping people heal, and who are now integrating psilocybin into their clinical practice with care and integrity.

At centers like Reflective Healing, Reset, LLC, and Rose NeuroSpa (where I practice), licensed mental health providers will soon be offering psilocybin within structured, ethical and regulated environments. A glance at their websites is enough to dispel the myth.

To call these professionals unqualified isn’t just misinformation — it’s a dismissal of the very people working to push mental health care in a more effective and humane direction.

Healing centers are regulated — and not a danger to children
Perhaps the most absurd claim in Niforatos’ article is that psychedelic healing centers pose a danger to children. It’s vague, unsubstantiated and frankly irresponsible. These centers are not dispensaries. They’re not casual walk-in clinics. They are private, appointment-only spaces where every participant must be 21 or older by law and undergo a rigorous screening process. Children are not present, not permitted, and not remotely part of this system.

Colorado has built one of the most comprehensive regulatory frameworks for natural medicine in the country. Healing centers must adhere to strict safety standards, undergo state oversight, and follow detailed protocols set by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. Every session is carefully planned, supervised and documented.

If anything, the system is conservative by design. It provides access to promising therapies while maintaining strong safeguards. To suggest these centers endanger youth is not only inaccurate — it’s irresponsible fear-mongering that distracts from meaningful conversations about public safety.

Yes, Colorado is in crisis — that’s exactly why we need psilocybin
On one point, Niforatos and I agree: Colorado is facing a mental health crisis. Depression, suicide, trauma and addiction are widespread. Too many people are slipping through the cracks. And for many, traditional medicines aren’t enough.

That’s why we need to expand, not restrict, our treatments. Psilocybin is not a cure-all — no treatment is — but when used in a structured setting with trained professionals, it can offer real relief. This work isn’t being driven by fringe movements. It’s being led by hundreds of licensed professionals and state regulators who believe in psilocybin’s potential and are working to deliver it with integrity and care.

We owe it to those who are suffering to keep the door open, not slam it shut in defense of a system that’s already failing too many. There are powerful interests invested in maintaining that failure — where keeping people suffering sustains profit, and healing threatens the business model.

Now is the time to listen to the science, trust the professionals doing this work with integrity, and stay open to the promise this medicine holds.

Brandon Sklar is a psychiatrist and psilocybin therapy facilitator practicing in Lone Tree, Colorado.