14 FEBRUARY 2-8, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | But that ended up being a blessing in dis- guise; he understands that a psychedelic lounge shouldn’t necessarily be publicly available. “It just wasn’t tight enough,” he says of the early weeks when Ant Farm was open to the public. “Basically, if people want to be in here tripping and feel really safe, and then it’s still open to the public and there’s a bunch of people wandering in and out.... Yeah, it wasn’t quite working.” You wouldn’t be able to smoke cannabis in the building if it were publicly open, either, he notes: “You’d have to go out into downtown Denver just to smoke. But right here, it’s an environment, and it feels really good. Just doing private events keeps it tighter for people, and it’s just their friends. And honestly, it’s easier for me than to be open to the public. ... Then people can use this space for whatever they want with their private events.” When Lemanski opened Ant Life, he had no idea that Proposition 122 would make the November ballot and be approved by Colo- rado voters, creating a whole new industry for people using psychedelics. Now, though, he realizes that he could be on the precipice of something big. “I appreciate that people can feel even safer to grow, possess and use mushrooms. For the Ant Life business, we never planned to distribute mushrooms in any way, so it doesn’t affect us directly,” he says. “The positive for us would be that mushrooms, and psychedelics generally, are becoming more acceptable and mainstream. And at least with mushrooms, there will be more access as the grow kits and spores become widely available.” Prop 122 included a timeline to implement a 21+ legal-access framework for psylocybin by the end of 2024, and for mescaline, psilocin and DMT by June 2026. In the meantime, pos- session and use of the natural drugs is totally kosher, as long as you aren’t using them in a public place or distributing them. Colorado has no plans to legalize public use, which puts Ant Life in a unique position, too. “I designed Ant Life to be the perfect place to trip,” Lemanski says. “As more peo- ple experiment with mushrooms, I hope they’ll fi nd their way to us.” Several people and companies have, with one couple even holding their wedding recep- tion at the lounge. Ant Life is rented for about ten private events a month; most of the clients have been cannabis companies, including the Clear, Harmony Extracts, Kind Love and 0420 Inc. He had never been “involved in those industries in any way prior to opening Ant Life,” Lemanski says, “though the project I was working on at my prior company was a cannabis breathalyzer. So in a way, I was on the enforcement side of those industries.” For the record, Lemanski points out that “Ant Life never sells or distributes any psy- chedelics, cannabis or alcohol, and no one on our premises is ever allowed to sell any illegal drugs, cannabis or alcohol. All we offer is a beautiful place to be.” The space hosts two regular monthly events: Magic Makers Market, which show- cases crystals and “witchy stuff,” and Made by Us, which is more of a clothing bazaar. “I was fl ailing for the fi rst three months, until I just really settled on private events,” Lemanski says. “And then I had to fi gure out how to sell private events here, and that took another three months. But now we’re starting to roll with it.” On February 11, Psychedelco and Shroomski magazine will use Ant Life to host Shroomski Brunch, where revelers will drink tea, eat small bites and celebrate the passage of Prop 122; tickets are $21. It’s a suitable event for the space, because even though you don’t need psychedelics to enjoy Lemanski’s art, they are an integral aspect of the Ant Life ethos. “I want to be a well-known psychedelic brand,” Lemanski says. “I know psychedel- ics are healing; it’s like a big thing right now. I’m about psychedelics for fun. We do it for entertainment here. And that’s kind of what I want to bring to the party. You don’t even have to go think on your deepest, darkest fears while you’re tripping. They can come be relaxed in this space and feel really safe. We keep it a nice, tight environment for people. And then they’re welcome to be around other people who are also tripping and meet people in that space. You know, it’s just becoming legal, but already a lot of people trip. That community has been look- ing for each other. Here’s the space where they can fi nd each other.” Lemanski hopes to make Ant Life mem- bership-based one day and welcome more people, as well as host some mushroom events. But for now, he’s just enjoying the fact that he has been able to give his ant farms an audience. As his landlord told him, Ant Life is “weird enough to work.” “I think my goal has always been to sell enough ant spaces so that at any time, some- where in the world, there’s somebody trip- ping with their ants,” Lemanski says. “Once the ants are in there, they’ll be creating art and slowly dying for a year. And eventually you’ll have one ant left. And you’ve spent a year with that ant, watching it walk around and live on your wall. And when it dies, you’ll feel a little bad about it. “But if I can get enough people to care about one ant, what else could they care about? It opens up a lot of things.” Email the author at emily.ferguson@ westword.com. Lord of the Ants continued from page 12
