A Loophole in Colorado's Mushroom Home Grow Provision

I visited Denver, Colorado this week and toured a number of psilocybin and exotic mushroom cultivation operations.  

Colorado voters approved “Proposition 122”, 'or “Natural Medicine Health Act” (NMHA) with a popular vote of 53% in 2022, which provided a “Decriminalization and Regulated Access Program for Certain Psychedelic Plants and Fungi Initiative”, which included “Two substances found in psychedelic mushrooms — psilocybin and psilocin — and three plant-based psychedelic substances — dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline”

In May of 2023, the Colorado Legislature instituted a comprehensive policy framework purportedly drawing from the proposed measures voted in by Colorado residents the year prior. This resulting policy initiative is known as SB23-290, Colorado’s Natural Medicine Regulation and Legalization Bill.

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With the regulated market for Colorado Natural Medicines recently rolling out in January of 2025, the provisions that ostensibly created the conditions for the thriving Colorado ‘Grey Market’. This term is most often used, though many people prefer the term ‘Legact Market’ to honor the fact that the unregulated plant medicine trade and community use frameworks goes back millennia before the prohibition of natural medicines in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Many mycopreneurs have opted for adapting their business to ostensibly fit within the Personal Use provisions afforded under the current policy framework, which include

As with many considerations regarding the law, the extent of what ‘Personal Use’ means and which practices are technically protected under it are being interpreted by different parties in different capacities. For example, one of the grows I toured adheres to the letter of the law on Colorado home psilocybin mushroom cultivation stipulations - a 12×12 grow space that is locked to anyone under the age of 21.

However, theres is no cap on height in the home grow provision. If there’s one things Mycopreneurs often exude in abundance, it’s creativity. Below is a 12×12 home mushroom grow…that’s multiple stories tall.

I’m not a legal expert on the practical application of Colorado laws in regards to SB23-290 or Colorado policy at large as it relates to natural medicines, but I am reporting facts about the stats quo of the Colorado plant medicine community from the ground as experienced in the last week.

The community self-regulation for natural medicines is being driven by organizations like Tryptomics Elevated Natural Products Research - A number of the products I witnessed in circulation aroudn the Denver area last week have COA’s (Certificate of Analysis) that documents the psilocybin content, Psilocin Equivalency, minor alkaloid profiles of the mushrooms, etc. on a QR code on a product packaging or a laminated sheet next to the dried fruiting bodies of various mushroom strains. The concept of ‘Psilocin Equivalency’ is effectively a more accurate measure for how potent a mushroom is, given that psilocybin content can range drastically between different strains, making the use of grams irrelevant for measuring a mushroom dose. One gram of one mushroom could essentially be the same potency as 10 grams of another. Below are a few examples of the type of chain of custody that the most legit operators are including in their catalogue.

Friday Ventures is another remarkable testing and analysis provider that I got a chance to connect with and tour their phenomenal facility. Nicest, most professional people ever. Give them a follow on all the platforms for sure.

As the conversation around drug policy reform and implementation percolates internationally at a level yet to be seen since the launch of the War On Drugs in 1971, even the most well-funded and prestigious think tanks, NGO’s and academics are scratching their heads and fumbling the bag on best practices for how to regulate ‘psychedelics’. Colorado’s framework is the boldest and most progressive policy reform to date in the United States, and it’s shortcomings are still glaringly obvious despite substantial investment and brain power applied to the regulation process. The major friction that exists currently as far as I can see - which is also a major friction in the cannabis industry - is the tension between the unregulated and regulated markets. The licensing and overhead costs to quote ‘go legitimate’ in the nascent Colorado regulated plant medicine industry would crush most small businesses, while the margins and business friendly concessions on a more community-regulated access model incentivize the most brilliant minds and knowledgable mushroom entrepreneurs to strategically and effectively operate within the legacy market, or the ‘Personal Use’ space as outlined by Colorado law - whether or not their practices are all truly legally defensible is another story, but the ‘Social Club’ dynamic of plant medicine and mushroom access is arguably the pre-eminent model that will trump alternate proposals for hierarchically regulated access.

In my mind, allocating resources to challenge the legitimacy of invite only social clubs (a la the Cannabis Social Club model prevalent in Spain) is a major waste of taxpayer money. The social club model is actually a very sensible and pragmatic approach to regulating mushrooms from my perspective - it’s invite only, members are accountable to the social mores and norms of the community they belong to, and access can be revoked at any time for violating the codes of conduct put in place by the social club. Psychedelic Churches function in much the same capacity.

I could write a lot more about Colorado and what I saw this past week, so let’s put a pin in it here and loop back in the near future.

(Shoutout to Real Mushrooms for keeping my pumping with their best in market functional mushroom capsules and powders. I just came back from 7 weeks in 3 countries and many different environments, events, and a schedule largely decided by a newborn - and stayed resilient and robust energetically and mentally throughout my travels. Real Mushrooms definitely has a hand in this - try some of their functional mushroom extracts for yourself)

We’re doing our weekly Mycopreneur Incubator at 3 pm East Coast / 12 pm West Coast U.S. today. This is our weekly low-key mentorship and networking incubator for mushroom entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and the myco-curious that’s held online. Invite details for today are below:

Topic: Mycopreneur Incubator's Zoom Meeting

Time: Apr 24, 2025 4 PM East Coast U.S. , 12 pm West Coast U.S.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89646597991?pwd=Sk1CaUuzBqal1nR5kPIEvBoqWffbYo.1

Meeting ID: 896 4659 7991 Passcode: 990857

Financial contributions for the Incubator can be made here in the amount of your choice:

Or hit me on PayPal or Zelle: [email protected]

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Have a great Thursday in mushroom land,

DW