Disabled veteran pushes for ‘magic mushrooms’ in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A local combat veteran who struggles with PTSD founded an organization to push for the decriminalization of "magic mushrooms" and other natural psychedelics in Colorado Springs.

Anthony Caballero served in the Army for four years and survived blasts from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). As a result, he suffered from traumatic brain injury, and began dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Caballero said he had suicidal thoughts when he returned home. He watched his platoon members go through similar situations and saw doctors prescribe them antidepressants.

"It changed them," Caballero said. "I got to see that firsthand, and I just didn't really enjoy, I guess, the way the military handled it, or the VA."

Caballero went through therapy to help deal with his PTSD, but he said it didn't work. He ended up trying Psilocybin mushrooms, and another psychedelic called DMT, and said it had a profound impact on him. He said his suicidal thoughts began to go away, and it changed his life.

Now, he's pushing for others to have the same opportunity by asking the city of Colorado Springs to decriminalize entheogenic plants, like Psilocybin mushrooms, 5-MeO-DMT, and Ibogaine.

He founded a Colorado Springs chapter of an organization called Decriminalize Nature, and said he is working with members of Colorado Springs City Council to provide them more information about these natural psychedelics. He hopes the Council will pass a resolution at some point that would decriminalize entheogenic plants, and allow professionals to integrate these drugs into therapy practices.

It's important to note that the city of Colorado Springs can be stringent about legal recreational drug use. Unlike the rest of Colorado, the sale of recreational marijuana isn't allowed inside city limits. We reached out to a member of Colorado Springs City Council that Caballero is working with, they said they wanted to get more information about Caballero's proposal before commenting publicly.

For a full report on this push to decriminalize plant-based medicines in Colorado Springs, tune into KRDO NewsChannel 13 at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.