Castle Rock Considers Regulating Psychedelic Mushroom Businesses

The Castle Rock City Council is working to pass a law regulating businesses dealing in hallucinogenic mushrooms and other natural healing methods in the city.

In 2022, Colorado voters approved decriminalizing the use of psilocybin and other plants by people 21 and older. Since then, the legislature has passed laws that define legal natural medicine businesses.

Unlike marijuana legalization, city governments cannot ban natural health businesses, but they can regulate the location of such businesses and some operational matters, such as setting opening hours.

The law allows natural healing centers where people use natural medicines under the condition of facilitation, and natural medicine businesses for the purpose of cultivation, production and testing. The sale of psilocybin or other natural medicines is still illegal.

Mike Hyman, Castle Rock city attorney, said the naturopathy market will be different from the retail and medicinal marijuana markets.

“You’re not going to go and buy a whole bag of mushrooms and go home,” Hyman said.

The Castle Rock City Council is considering an ordinance that would restrict naturopathic businesses and healing centers to lightly or generally industrialized areas. It would also require them to be at least 1,000 feet from schools, child care facilities and residential homes.

The proposed regulation would severely restrict where natural medicine businesses could open.

The regulation also limits working hours to 8:00-17:00 on weekdays.

Council members have voiced opposition to allowing naturopathic businesses to operate within the city limits, saying they would prefer Castle Rock have local authority to prohibit such businesses.

“As a local government, I would not want that at all,” said Councilman Tim Dietz.

The Council will vote on the proposed law at its meeting on 16 July.

In February, Parker introduced similar restrictions, restricting the cultivation and production of natural medicines to industrial zones and setting a 1,000-foot boundary around schools, daycares and residential homes.

Parker allows the establishment of natural healing centers in business and commercial areas.

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