Defining what a psychedelic medicine treatment center is will likely be a key point in the work of the Natural Medicine Advisory Board’s subcommittee on Emergency Response, Safety and Ethics.
At the subcommittee’s first meeting on April 19, members Alisa Hannum, a clinical psychologist, said a critical distinction the subcommittee will have to make will be whether to lump treatment centers in with health and wellness facilities like hospitals or treat them like spiritual centers. That distinction could greatly influence decision such as who gets access to natural medicines to the way treatment centers communicate with other official bodies like first responders and homeowners’ associations.
“If treatment centers are considered part of the health and wellness profession, then what does that mean in terms of exclusion and equity? It might mean more rigid regulation,” Hannum said.
Josh Goodwin, a business owner and NMAB’s vice chair, suggested creating two sets of regulations could be one way for the committee to expand access to the public and medical patients at the same time.
“We don’t really want to re-invent the wheel here,” Goodwin says. “As the industry grows, we can add more regulations as needed.”
The Ethics subcommittee is also tasked with answering questions that consider topics like patient medical history disclosure requirements and the proper training materials for medical practitioners.
Will Dunn, who was elected chairman of the Ethics subcommittee during the meeting, said these discussions could impact the way treatment centers required to communicate with paramedics and firefighters. One example would be disclosing a patient’s dosage or medical history to paramedics in cases of emergency, Dunn added.
Residential health center operations may be the wildcard amid these debates because the subcommittee can’t influence the policies of homeowners associations, Goodwin said. Colorado law also gives homeowners associations broad latitude to regulate home businesses like limiting whether clients can come-and-go from a residence.
“HOA’s are a hole in this beast,” committee member Josh Goodwin said. “They have a lot of power, and can come and take your house if they want.”
The next Ethics subcommittee meeting is scheduled for May 3 at 1pm.
