In The News

Denver dabbles with magic mushrooms, but using them to treat mental health disorders remains underground
DENVER — Nearly two years after Denver made history as the nation’s first city to decriminalize hallucinogenic mushrooms for personal use, the nightmare of rampant abuse and public intoxication feared by opponents has failed to materialize.
April 6, 2021

Why the DEA Went After a Small-Time Mushroom Dealer in Denver
“The young man with a tent full of psychedelic mushrooms in his closet isn’t worried about the cops.” So reads the opening line of a Denver Post article, published in late August 2019, just three months after the city of Denver decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms in a historic ballot initiative vote. With the ballot initiative passing by just […]
March 9, 2021

Court upholds IRS authority to investigate Colorado cannabis companies
In the latest of a series of cases challenging the Internal Revenue Service’s authority to obtain financial records from Colorado cannabis companies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has once again ruled in favor of the government.
October 21, 2020

LA Sued Over Delays In Marijuana Delivery Licensing
A pair of cannabis trade groups and a marijuana business owner asked a California state court to throw out a Los Angeles city ordinance that limits marijuana delivery licenses to social equity applicants until 2025.
October 20, 2020

Los Angeles faces lawsuit over marijuana delivery licenses
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two marijuana trade organizations filed a lawsuit Monday against the nation’s largest legal pot market over restrictions on stand-alone delivery services that have blocked them from obtaining licenses until 2025.
October 9, 2020

New Association Brings Psychedelics to the Medical Mainstream
Psychedelics have entered the mainstream, informing a multimillion dollar industry – but the majority of healthcare providers working directly with patients are unaware of the growing field of psychedelic therapy. The newly formed Psychedelic Medicine Association (PMA) remedies this with a collaborative platform created for medical professionals, organizations, and drug developers to educate and guide […]
October 9, 2020

Myths and Realities About the Decriminalization of Psychedelics in the US
The psychedelic renaissance is moving ahead full-steam; Denver decriminalized personal use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms; Oakland and Santa Cruz went farther and decriminalized a broad set of activities around all naturally-occurring psychedelic substances, known as “psychedelics,” “sacred plants” or “entheogens.” For more information on the Denver and Oakland initiatives, see my previous article in […]
March 27, 2020

Denver’s Psilocybin Policy Panel and the Magic Mushroom Debate
Denver’s making headlines again by forming the world’s first “Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel.” The 11-person panel is a direct follow-up to the city’s passing of Initiated Ordinance 301 (I-301) in May 2019, which effectively decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms in Denver. In the months that followed, I-301, which was created by Decriminalize Denver (since rebranded as “SPORE”), inspired […]
February 5, 2020