Cortez City Council is determined to take more time before “magic mushroom” centers can sprout around town.
With businesses selling psychedelic-assisted therapies – deemed “natural medicines” in Colorado – expected to emerge in Cortez, the City Council has opted to spend more time to determine regulations.
In February, City Council put a six-month moratorium in place to halt the approval process for new natural medicine businesses. That moratorium would have expired next week, on Aug. 26. In the meantime, City Council has deliberated over how the centers should be regulated. Those deliberations aren’t over; more time is needed, council members agreed. As such, City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 12 to extend the moratorium for another three months.
Cortez City Attorney Patrick Coleman had said during the Aug. 12 meeting that City Council members had been working diligently to develop regulations.
“We’re not quite there,” said Coleman. “We anticipate that the regulations could be finalized and adopted within those three months.”
In November 2022, Colorado voters approved a ballot measure that decriminalized psychedelic drugs. Soon after, in May 2023, Gov. Jared Polis signed SB23-290 into law, regulating psychoactive medicines further and making Colorado the second state to legalize the consumption of psychedelic mushrooms under personal use or through the administration of therapeutic “healing centers.”
Psychedelics have gained traction as therapeutic treatments for conditions such as PTSD and depression.
SB23-290 also established the Natural Medicine Division within the Colorado Department of Revenue. Not only are healing centers licensed under the division’s eye, but so too are other players considered natural medicine businesses, like those that grow or test the mushrooms.
Cortez gets to make its own rules as for how such natural medicine centers are integrated into the community.
Since last addressed by City Council during a mid-July meeting, regulations on such natural medicine have been drafted. During the Aug. 12 meeting, City Attorney Coleman brought that drafted ordinance before council members for review again.
Numerous items headed for the next draft ordinance were mentioned for further consideration by councilors: How long should a person recently under the influence of psychedelics wait to operate a vehicle? How should natural medicines go under the zoning or land use code? How to go about regulating candy-like edible products?
“We’ll take as much time as council feels like we need on this to go through it with a fine-tooth comb,” said City Manager Drew Sanders.
“I think it’s very wise that we take another break in order to come back to this another time,” said City Council member April Randle.
That way, more time to digest the ordinance’s language could be allotted for, Randle said.
An upcoming council meeting will include a final reading of the ordinance before it is formally adopted.
