“Healing centers” in Colorado may be allowed to offer the drug psilocybin in a few different forms when the voter-approved psychedelic therapy industry launches next year.
Some customers will choose to eat dried mushrooms or to swallow a capsule. But the most controversial option may be chocolates and confections laced with psilocybin.
Advocates for child safety are raising a red flag, saying that allowing psilocybin to be packaged as a treat may be the wrong move.
“There were so many lessons learned after the legalization of cannabis, that we're just trying to make sure the state is being a little more forward-looking when it comes to this new substance,” said Alton Dillard, a spokesman for One Chance to Grow Up, a nonprofit that advocates for youth drug safety.
The chocolate controversy comes as the state is finalizing the rules and regulations for the industry. A draft proposal, which is open for public comment until July 25, would allow the industry to offer chocolates and soft confections to customers.
The industry will only serve people 21 and older. And, unlike with cannabis, there will be no retail sales. Instead, the drugs would be consumed on-site under the supervision of a trained professional.
Industry advocates say that using chocolates and confections to consume psilocybin are not meant to appeal to children. Instead, chocolates may be easier for some adults to stomach than dried mushrooms, which can taste unpleasant. Chocolate also may help to soothe the nausea that comes with a mushroom trip, advocates say. Some cultivators are also interested in adding other herbal supplements, like lion’s mane mushrooms, to their products.
“The bottom line is really just trying to create the best options for the folks out there that are looking for access to support their mental health, or in contexts like terminal or advanced illness,” said Tasia Poinsatte, director of the Healing Advocacy Fund of Colorado, a major force behind the new law.
Dillard acknowledged that children will likely have little access to the product. But he worries that allowing psilocybin sweets now, even in a therapeutic setting, could send the wrong message for the future. It could open the door for allowing chocolates and confections in the retail market, he argued, if the state were to eventually legalize retail sales of psychedelics.
“We’re just wanting to make sure that any protections that are in place for kids get factored into the discussion early, instead of the light bulb going on six, eight, ten years down the road,” Dillard said.
The most common effects of psilocybin are sensory distortions and hallucinations, said Dr. Chris Hoyte, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center. Those effects can be frightening or potentially dangerous, for example, if they impair a person’s ability to drive.
“Those hallucinations could take various sorts of forms and have different risks, depending on your age, or what you're doing at the time,” Hoyte said.
Avoiding the mistakes of the cannabis market?
Dillard urged the state to learn lessons from the rollout of the cannabis industry. A lack of early regulation led to an explosion of different products, from gummies to sodas, nasal sprays and inhalers, often with playful and appealing packaging.
That’s a valuable perspective, according to Allison Robinette, who is overseeing some of the rulemaking as a policy director at the Department of Revenue.
In the early days of legal cannabis, the state “didn’t have any limits or restrictions on product types,” Robinette said. By the time Colorado changed its legal approach, “the range of products we are seeing in the cannabis space was way outpacing our regulations. We took that lesson very much to heart.”
With the psilocybin process, the state is instead creating a short list of allowable uses. That includes dried mushrooms, chocolates, confections, teas, tinctures, capsules and tablets.
“You can only make certain product types. And you have to do it in line with the regulations around manufacturing procedures,” she said. “Our intent is not to stifle someone's ability to make products that participants want. But it gives us the forethought and to be proactive about instilling regulations.”
Shawn Hauser is a partner at Vicente LLP, a law firm that has been closely involved in Colorado’s cannabis and psilocybin industries.
She said the state had done a good job of listening to various parties as it drafts the industry rules. But she warned that if officials create too many onerous regulations, customers will instead buy less safe products from unregulated and illegal sources. The gray market is already growing fast under the new law.
“The intent of the program is to give consumers access to these products where they're safe,” she said. “What we don't want is someone getting sick … because they got an unsafe product on the illicit market because they don't have access through the regulated system.”
Hoyte, of Rocky Mountain Poison Center, urged the state to ensure that products are tested and clearly labeled, “so people are very clear on what they’re actually consuming.”
The state has heard from close to 100 people who are interested in launching psilocybin businesses, ranging from mushroom cultivators to product manufacturers, testing labs and healing centers. The first licenses are expected to be granted early in 2025.
Like cannabis, psilocybin remains illegal under federal law.
