In a quiet Denver apartment, Ashley Ryan, a psychedelic guide, uses the resonant tones of a Tibetan singing bowl to create a safe and calming environment. This sound is just one element of her approach to guiding individuals through psychedelic experiences with mushrooms.
“Singing bowls,” she explains, “can be an integral part of a healing journey.”
For Ryan, a former public school teacher, psychedelic mushrooms have been a source of personal well-being, leading her to guide others on similar journeys. Over the past few years, this practice has become part of her broader work as a meditation and spirituality educator. She now facilitates psychedelic experiences for individuals, couples, and small groups, charging fees that reflect the personalized support she provides.
“This includes not just individuals but couples, small groups of friends,” she notes, also mentioning that she sometimes guides friends seeking company during their psilocybin experiences.
Ashley Ryan is at the forefront of Colorado’s evolving psychedelic landscape. Following the voter approval of Proposition 122 last November, which introduced the Natural Medicine Health Act, Colorado is on a path toward legalizing psychedelic services. However, the state is still some time away from issuing licenses for a regulated psychedelic industry, with the first licenses anticipated well into 2024 or beyond.
Related: What to know about Colorado’s psychedelic law
Despite the regulatory framework still being developed, a “gray market” of practitioners like Ryan has emerged. From “Micro Monday” classes focused on mushroom microdosing to individuals cultivating and sharing mushrooms, a network of informal providers is growing in Denver and beyond. Online searches readily reveal numerous websites offering psychedelic guiding services in the Denver area, indicating a burgeoning interest in accessing these experiences.
“The proposition gave us the opportunity to use our voice and to share the healing power of mushrooms with others,” Ryan states, highlighting the sense of empowerment felt by those in this space.
Currently, Colorado law allows for these types of unregulated activities involving mushrooms and other psychedelics. However, these early ventures might be ahead of the curve. As Colorado prepares to launch a regulated mushroom industry next year, lawmakers are already working to establish boundaries for the current informal operations, with significant changes expected as early as July 1.
The Decriminalization Paradox
Proposition 122 brought about two significant shifts in Colorado’s approach to psychedelics. The most publicized aspect was the plan to establish state-licensed “healing centers” where individuals could access supervised psychedelic experiences with trained professionals, using mushrooms from licensed cultivators.
However, these regulated psychedelic centers are still years away from becoming a reality, with initial licenses unlikely to be granted before late 2024 at the earliest.
In the interim, Prop. 122 has already enacted a crucial change that has paved the way for individuals like Ryan: approximately six months prior, Colorado significantly reduced criminal penalties associated with the possession, cultivation, use, and “sharing” of psychedelic mushrooms and other substances like DMT.
This legal shift enabled Ryan to offer access to mushrooms and her services as a guide, mirroring the concept of the future regulated healing centers. The current regulations are minimal: mushroom-sharing guides cannot advertise for payment and must share rather than sell the substances.
This more permissive environment has encouraged individuals to openly pursue psychedelic-related ventures. While precise numbers are elusive, anecdotal evidence suggests a substantial increase in the number of individuals offering mushrooms and related services around Denver since decriminalization. Reports also indicate a rise in the explicit selling of mushrooms, which remains a felony but is perceived as carrying reduced legal risk.
Jimmy Smrz and Ashley Ryan discuss the evolving legal landscape of psychedelic mushrooms in their Denver home, highlighting the uncertainties faced by unlicensed guides due to new state regulations.
Ryan’s partner, Jimmy Smrz, believes that Proposition 122 intentionally allowed for small-scale psychedelic services to operate outside of a licensing framework.
“As long as it was a small scale and done in a private residence, you would be able to do essentially what the regulated side wants to do. But you didn’t have the oversight,” he explains, expressing a libertarian perspective that favors less regulation.
However, state lawmakers hold a different view. Legislation passed this year aims to curb gray-market psychedelic businesses like Ashley Ryan’s.
“There’s a challenge in that we are setting up a regulation system, but then also allowing people to do similar activities through an unregulated system. And that’s not normal. That’s not usual,” explains Senate President Steve Fenberg, emphasizing the need to address this regulatory gap.
Regulatory Changes on the Horizon
Senate Bill 23-290, introducing new requirements for psychedelic drugs, is set to take effect on July 1. This law will prohibit all forms of advertising by unlicensed guides offering mushrooms, among other restrictions, effectively limiting the visibility of gray market services.
The intention is to allow practitioners like Ryan to continue providing services, but within a framework closer to a personal hobby or community service, rather than openly solicited business. Fenberg emphasizes the state’s concern about unlicensed individuals “soliciting” business in a space intended for regulated services.
The state aims to prevent a situation where unregulated and unsupervised individuals offer services that are intended to be delivered through strictly regulated healing centers in the future.
“It was important to us that we didn’t totally cut off personal use and sharing,” Fenberg clarifies, “but we also wanted to make sure that we had fidelity to the fact that Proposition 122 asked the state to regulate these services.”
Psychedelic advocates hold diverse opinions on these changes. Ashley Ryan expresses concern that she will need to significantly scale back her online presence and visibility.
Ashley Ryan examines a booklet featuring award-winning psychedelic mushroom producers in her Denver residence, contemplating the impact of upcoming regulations on unlicensed guides.
“I’m wondering what’s going to happen next as much as everyone else,” she admits. “With the new regulations for community healing, I see it as going underground again.”
Frustration with this year’s legislative process led Ryan, formerly a Democrat, to re-register as a Republican. Some Republican lawmakers also voiced opposition to the changes, with Rep. Ron Weinberg arguing that the state was deviating from the voters’ original intent.
“They are [currently] doing it responsibly behind closed doors. Nobody knows it’s happening. Now you’re having the bloody government get involved, and that is only going to create incident,” Weinberg contended.
Conversely, some Republican lawmakers argued that the law wasn’t restrictive enough, particularly because it doesn’t permit local governments to impose stricter regulations to control the growth of the legal psychedelic industry.
The new law also establishes a misdemeanor offense for “unlicensed facilitation,” while still permitting “bona fide” support services. This has created uncertainty for unlicensed guides like Ryan regarding the scope of permissible activities. Clarity may not emerge until the state finalizes the detailed rules and regulations for the psychedelic industry.
Related: Stressed out, busy moms say microdosing mushrooms makes life easier and brighter. Researchers caution that they are ‘experimenting on themselves’
Tasia Poinsatte, a key figure in the Prop. 122 campaign and state director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, generally supports the new Senate bill. She views it as a mechanism to refine certain aspects of the proposition, including defining criminal penalties and extending the timeline for establishing the licensing system.
Poinsatte emphasizes the state’s effort to strike a balance between the regulated industry and the existing unregulated landscape.
“How do we put in place the pieces [for regulated access] while still making sure that people have this level of freedom to engage responsibly within their own contexts and communities?” she poses, highlighting the delicate balance being sought.
Kevin Matthews, another prominent advocate for Prop. 122, believes that both regulated and unregulated services can coexist, anticipating sufficient demand for both models.
However, Democratic Rep. Judy Amabile expresses concern that the unregulated market is expanding rapidly before the state can establish safety standards for psychedelic services. The state’s psychedelic advisory board is expected to take over a year to formulate recommendations on training and licensing, and licenses may not be issued until late 2024.
“My preference would have been to stand up this regulated framework first and see how that goes before we also had the unregulated framework,” Amabile states, while acknowledging lawmakers’ commitment to working within the system created by voters.
Mushroom-themed light fixtures add a touch of whimsy to the Denver home of Ashley Ryan and Jimmy Smrz, reflecting the growing cultural interest in psychedelic mushrooms.
Travis Tyler Fluck operates an unregulated microdosing event called Micro Mondays. For a $30 fee, participants attend a lecture on incorporating microdosing into their lives and receive a month’s supply of mushrooms at no charge.
Fluck remains relatively unconcerned about the new law, intending to position his activities as educational to potentially circumvent advertising restrictions. He advocates for minimal intervention in the unregulated market by lawmakers and law enforcement.
“The most intelligent thing that Colorado can do is foster an environment of motivating people to be as visible as possible with what they’re doing,” he argues. “Because most of this work is no stranger to the underground. And that’s where a lot of harms are done.”
Proponents of psychedelics emphasize their potential to address mental health challenges, citing their non-addictive nature and low immediate physical risk.
While preliminary research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin is promising, experts caution that psychedelic experiences can be challenging or even traumatic, potentially triggering or exacerbating underlying psychiatric conditions.
Related: Legalizing psychedelic mushrooms is on the Colorado ballot this fall. Here’s what the supporters, the opponents and the data have to say
“The quality of the studies is variable,” notes David Hellerstein, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. “The findings are interesting and encouraging. But there’s a lot of holes and a lot of gaps.”
Colorado’s Uncharted Psychedelic Future
Colorado is venturing into largely uncharted territory. Only Oregon has previously decriminalized mushrooms statewide, and the outcomes there are still emerging.
In Oregon, regulated mushroom services, similar to Colorado’s planned healing centers, are permitted. The first Oregon center recently opened, with single-session prices exceeding $3,000, according to Willamette Week.
Oregon’s regulated system imposes significant requirements and costs on facilitators, a model Colorado is likely to emulate, potentially including extensive training, licensing, and lengthy supervision periods for each client.
“You’re looking at hours of somebody’s time who is trained and licensed,” Poinsatte points out, indicating the inherent cost factors in regulated services.
While she anticipates prices may decrease over time, the accessibility of the regulated market, both for clients and facilitators, remains a key question.
Unlike cannabis, legal retail sales of psychedelic mushrooms are not planned in Colorado. Instead, Coloradans will likely have to choose between regulated, potentially expensive clinical services, the more affordable but unregulated market, or personal recreational use.
Fluck expresses concern that established entities within a regulated market might pressure the state to suppress gray-market competition.
“Once you allow industry in, and we’re seeing this with medical cannabis, you know, the lobbyists come in and start chipping away at these personal freedoms,” he warns, highlighting potential market dynamics.
Increased Availability of Mushrooms
Beyond unregulated guides and educators, psychedelic mushrooms themselves appear to be more readily accessible since decriminalization. A search on Facebook Marketplace revealed numerous listings that appeared to offer psychedelic mushrooms for sale, often accompanied by images of mushroom tubs and links to private messaging.
Online sellers interviewed by CPR News reported a surge in individuals growing and distributing mushrooms with reduced fear of legal repercussions. However, scams targeting those seeking psychedelics are also present.
Psychedelic mushrooms at different propagation stages are shown in a Colorado grower’s home, illustrating the ease of home cultivation since decriminalization.
While selling remains illegal, reduced penalties for growing and possession have lessened the risks, sellers reported. Furthermore, mushroom cultivation is relatively straightforward, requiring less space and energy compared to cannabis. This ease of cultivation raises concerns about a potentially sprawling, unregulated market with limited quality control.
“This entire regulated system will be great for … the quasi-medical aspect of it, but the recreational aspect is just going to be the Wild West,” cautions Tim Lane of the Colorado District Attorneys Council, highlighting the potential for unregulated recreational use. “There’s so much room within the statutes to cultivate and share that there [effectively] is no regulation.”
In Denver, which decriminalized mushrooms prior to the state, the Denver Police Department indicates it’s too early to definitively assess the impact of decriminalization on the drug market. Psilocybin-related criminal charges remain relatively infrequent, with a few dozen confiscations reported since Denver’s local decriminalization, and no significant change following the statewide law.
Rep. Amabile describes the situation as involving not just two sides, but an “octagon of interests.” Sen. Fenberg maintains that lawmakers have aimed to strike a balance that accommodates both regulated and unregulated access models.
He emphasizes the importance of avoiding federal intervention.
“The sort of unspoken agreement since marijuana legalization is as long as you were regulating it in a mature and professional manner to avoid worst case situations, the federal government generally is going to assume that you are doing your part in not allowing [a federally illegal drug] to get out of control,” he explains, referencing the federal perspective on state-level drug policy.
While Colorado’s legal framework is taking shape, its journey into the psychedelic realm is just beginning, with much still to unfold.
