Westword
Colorado’s relatively young psychedelics laws could be tested as a magic mushroom co-op challenges state authority over what constitutes psilocybin facilitation and personal use.
Darren Lyman has operated in the open as a psilocybin purveyor at 800 West Eighth Avenue since 2023, shortly after Colorado voters approved a law decriminalizing the possession, cultivation and sharing of psilocybin and several other natural psychedelics. Intended to be used for medicinal, wellness and spiritual purposes, Lyman’s magic mushrooms are part of what he believes comprise harm reduction and support services in the personal-use space of natural medicine.
Therapeutic psilocybin use is legal in Colorado, but under state law the process requires screening and post-facilitation meetings, and patients must be supervised while they experience psilocybin’s psychoactive effects. The most affordable options cost around $150 to $200 per session, with each session including a specific dose of mushrooms that usually ranges anywhere from one to five grams.
Lyman’s process is unlicensed and has far fewer strings and costs associated with it. After a screening and conversation with Lyman, adults aged 21 and up can purchase his “support” in the form of educational chats, pamphlets and other resources for how to intentionally use psilocybin, and what to do if the psychoactive effects are too intense. The support sessions cost around $60 to $100, and allow members access to psilocybin mushrooms, psilocybin-infused chocolates and DMT, a psychedelic substance that is decriminalized in Colorado but not yet legalized for therapeutic facilitation. However, no one is allowed to consume at his office; nor does Lyman accompany or sit with members during their psychedelic journeys, he notes.
