Colorado regulators are really tripping as they prepare to roll out ‘magic’ mushroom legalization
The Department of Regulatory Agencies warned lawmakers in January that it is not prepared to handle the passage of Proposition 122, saying it has no idea what to do with psilocybin
The Colorado Sun
Olivia Sun/The Colorado Sun via Report for America
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies recently warned state lawmakers that it is unprepared for its assigned job of implementing the state’s new, second-in-the-nation legal “magic mushroom” industry, which voters approved in November.
The department — which normally oversees sectors like insurance and banking — is tasked with quickly adopting a regulatory structure under which psychedelic mushrooms can be legally consumed by people 21 and older at licensed facilities. The facilities are set to open as soon as late 2024.
It will also be responsible for writing regulations governing the cultivation and manufacturing of psychedelic mushrooms, as well as protecting consumers, developing public education campaigns and making recommendations to the legislature about how to shape the industry.
There’s just one problem: the department says it has no idea what it’s doing when it comes to psilocybin, the hallucination-inducing compound derived from psychedelic mushrooms.
Proposition 122, which legalized magic mushrooms, passed by nearly 8 percentage points. The measure was unique in that it specifically charged DORA with rolling out the psilocybin industry, as opposed to letting the state figure out for itself which of its agencies should be responsible for regulating magic mushrooms. And it doesn’t appear Proposition 122’s proponents reached out to DORA to see if they could handle the responsibility.
