KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS NEWS Let’s Make a Deal THE DENVER POLICE DIDN’T ARREST KOLE MILNER FOR SELLING MUSHROOMS. THE DEA DID THE JOB FOR THEM. BY CONOR MCCORMICK- CAVANAGH On February 1, a federal judge sentenced Denver mushroom dealer Kole Milner to three years’ probation, bringing to a close the highest-profi le psychedelic mushroom case in Denver since the city’s voters decriminal- ized the natural substance in May 2019. But while Denver voters decriminalized possession of psilocybin by approving the ordinance, they didn’t decriminalize deal- ing — and their vote didn’t restrict federal actions at all. The case against Milner, based on an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Ad- ministration and then prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce for the District of Colorado, started with evidence gathered through local and national media pieces about an anonymous Denver mushroom dealer. But not that anonymous: DEA agents happened on the articles and videos in August 2019 and were able to track Milner down through clues supplied by Milner himself. As it turns out, the feds weren’t the only ones on to Milner. According to a Denver ’SHROOM SERVICE Twenty months after Denver voters ap- proved decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms, the leader of that surprisingly successful campaign has set his sights on statewide decriminalization. “If we’re working toward decriminalizing psilocybin and creating a regulatory model in the state of Colorado, it’s so much more effective to get it done in the legislature than to spend $5 million to $8 million on a ballot ini- tiative and a campaign,” says Kevin Matthews, the former head of Decriminalize Denver who recently registered as a Colorado lobbyist. Matthews plans to lobby lawmakers 6 in order to build enough support to pass a Colorado decriminalization bill by 2022, if not sooner. “If we can introduce a bill this session, then we certainly want to do that,” explains Matthews, an Arvada resident and former West Point cadet. But he understands that lawmakers might not be ready for such a proposal in 2021, and if that’s the case, he says he’ll focus on “building out the foundation this year, using this as an educational year, Police Department document obtained by Westword, the DPD had been tracking him since February 2019, after the department received a report from a tipster. The DPD document, essentially a sum- mary of an investigation, reveals that on February 2, 2019, offi cers with the DPD Vice Unit received a packet through the mail that contained a note stating that someone named “Kole Milner” was growing psychedelic mushrooms in his apartment. The packet also included “photos of the grow at various stages,” and pointed out that Milner worked at a local cannabis business. Someone had ratted on Milner. In the document, which is heavily re- dacted, the DPD notes that the tipster had not provided a return address or a way to contact “him.” After receiving the tip, Offi cer Christo- pher Lavin began researching Kole Milner, and confi rmed that someone with that name was licensed to work in the can- nabis industry. In March 2019, the department summary continues, Lavin located Milner on Face- book, and noticed that in his profi le, Milner identifi ed as a member of Decriminalize Denver, the campaign formed to decrimi- nalize psychedelic mushrooms in the city. At that point, another Denver police offi cer sent Milner a friend request, presumably through a fake account — though that’s dif- fi cult to determine because the document has so many redactions. After Milner accepted the friend request, a DPD offi cer began to correspond with him. Over the next few weeks, the two talked about mushrooms and decriminalization, and getting in front of lawmakers.” If he succeeds in getting such a proposal through the legislature, would Governor Jared Polis sign it? “The governor has not seen such a bill, and so we cannot comment one way or the other,” says Conor Cahill, a spokesperson for the governor. But Matthews has a backup plan, in any case: If he can’t get lawmakers to pass the bill, he and other advocates of psychedelic mushroom decriminalization will launch that costly campaign to put the proposal on the Colorado ballot during the midterm elections in November 2022. Although Denver made history in May 2019 by becoming the fi rst American city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, other locales quickly followed suit. The city councils of Oakland and Santa Cruz in California, as well as Ann Arbor, Michigan, all decriminalized entheogens — naturally occurring psychedelics such as mushrooms and peyote. This past November, residents of Washington, D.C., voted in favor of decrimi- Both the DEA and Denver police were tailing Kole Milner (left). establishing a “rapport,” according to the police document. Then on May 23, 2019, just a few weeks after Denver voters approved decriminaliz- ing the personal possession, use and growth of psychedelic mushrooms, Milner agreed over Facebook Messenger to sell psychedelic mushrooms to a “friend” of his Facebook friend. That “friend” turned out to be an undercover detective. According to the document, the under- cover detective drove to Milner’s south Denver apartment building that evening to purchase mushrooms. Milner entered the car, and then sold an ounce of psychedelic mushrooms to the undercover cop for $180. During the sale, Milner highlighted the fact nalizing entheogens. Oregon voters also ap- proved ballot measures related to regulating psychedelics and decriminalizing drugs. In Colorado, advocates in Boulder and Colorado Springs have already started talk- ing with elected offi cials about decriminal- ization efforts. Following his success in Denver, Mat- thews formed the nonprofit Society for Psychedelic Outreach, Reform and Educa- tion, working on various efforts around the country. After serving as SPORE’s executive director for over eighteen months, Matthews is now handing over the reins to a new execu- tive director so that he can focus full-time on lobbying. “My passion, and where I really shine, is the advocacy and policy side,” he explains, “and how are we making contact with folks to change laws.” Matthews secured seed funding from Dr. Bronner’s, an organic-soap company that has a history of supporting psilocybin-related advocacy, to get his Helix Consulting Group off the ground. Now he hopes to be hired by paying clients for his lobbying efforts, that he packaged his mushrooms in black bags that looked like THC bags and even branded them with a cartoon fox. Milner also shared that he was growing mushrooms inside his apartment and was in the process of getting more equipment to grow in greater quantity. A week later, the undercover detective reached out to Milner to buy more mush- rooms, according to the investigation sum- mary. However, Milner said he was out of stock and referred the would-be buyer to another dealer. Through that referral, undercover Den- ver Police Detective Jessica DelaRow began buying mushrooms from the other dealer. The DPD eventually busted the young man, who ended up plead- continued on page 7 and also to garner fi nancial support from individual donations. “To me, it’s important that I’m as rep- resentative of the needs and desires of the grassroots community as possible,” Mat- thews says, adding that he wants Helix to serve “as a bridge for the needs and wants of the psychedelic constituency, as it exists in Denver and Colorado, to our lawmakers.” Matthews will also be doing some of the followup required for Denver’s decriminal- ization effort, working with law enforcement offi cials on the city’s Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel to collect data for Den- ver City Council on the effects of the ordi- nance’s passage. “With the arrest data, the hospital visit data, that’s trending very much toward no health or safety risks,” he says. That data will be useful in pushing for a statewide decriminalization bill, he suggests. In the meantime, he was at the Capitol dur- ing the fi rst days of the legislative session be- fore it took a break until February 16 to “plant the spore there and get the lay of the land.” — MCCORMICK-CAVANAGH FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021 WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | westword.com DEA
