4 MAY 7-13, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Tough Trip STATE CLOSURE ORDERS THREATEN THE FUTURE OF DENVER MAGIC MUSHROOM CO-OP BY THOMAS MITC HELL Colorado’s relatively young psychedelics laws could be tested as a magic mushroom co-op challenges state authority over what constitutes psilocybin facilitation and per- sonal use. Darren Lyman has operated in the open as a psilocybin purveyor at 800 West Eighth Avenue since 2023, shortly after Colorado voters approved a law decriminalizing the possession, cultivation and sharing of psilo- cybin and several other natural psychedelics. Intended to be used for medicinal, wellness and spiritual purposes, Lyman’s magic mush- rooms are part of what he believes comprise harm reduction and support services in the personal-use space of natural medicine. Therapeutic psilocybin use is legal in Colorado, but under state law the process requires screening and post-facilitation meetings, and patients must be supervised while they experience psilocybin’s psycho- active effects. The most affordable options cost around $150 to $200 per session, with each session including a specifi c dose of mushrooms that usually ranges anywhere from one to fi ve grams. Lyman’s process is unlicensed and has far fewer strings and costs associated with it. After a screening and conversation with Lyman, adults aged 21 and up can purchase his “support” in the form of educational chats, pamphlets and other resources for how to intentionally use psilocybin, and what to do if the psychoactive effects are too intense. The support sessions cost around $60 to $100, and allow members access to psilocybin mushrooms, psilocybin-infused chocolates and DMT, a psychedelic sub- stance that is decriminalized in Colorado but not yet legalized for therapeutic facilitation. However, no one is allowed to consume at his offi ce, nor does Lyman accompany or sit with members during their psychedelic journeys, he notes. Lyman was so comfortable with what he was doing that he bought ads in the back of Westword, later inviting us over for a few interviews. He maintains that his co-op falls within the law and that he’s merely an early adopter of more support services to come. You can fi nd his self-published books on mushrooms and psilocybin at local stores, and he has appeared at city and state rule- making hearings to discuss his psilocybin support service. Beth McCann, then the Denver district attorney, acknowledged she was aware of Lyman’s op- eration in 2023. Even so, his operation was never shut down, and Lyman was not arrested for sell- ing psychedelics. Colorado allows people to share or gift certain psy- chedelics, including psi- locybin and DMT, and be remunerated for support and production resources. Commercial activity out- side of facilitation is still illegal, though, begging the question: Where does harm reduction and sup- port end, and commercial- ization begin? State licensing offi cials view Lyman’s support ser- vice as an underground psychedelics dispensary, and have tried to put the clamps on it over the last two years by issuing him two cease-and-desist or- ders. The fi rst was sent in 2023 by the Colorado Natural Medicine Division (NMD), a branch of the state De- partment of Revenue that regulates the commercial side of psychedelic therapy. The letter told Lyman that since he conducts “business transactions...the advertisement and exchange of psilocybin mushrooms for remuneration is not lawful and must im- mediately cease.” Lyman’s advertisements in Westword were cited in the order. His attorney, Sean McCallister, says that Lyman stopped ad- vertising after receiving the NMD’s order, but his website and studio are still running. “It never said anything about his website or being engaged in any kind of unlawful facilitation,” McCallister says of the fi rst cease-and-desist order. “We saw that con- cern and we stopped advertising on the back of Westword. We didn’t hear anything from the state for two years, and you’d think we would have if we were doing something.” The NMD has maintained a consistent stance on the illegality of support and harm reduction services like Lyman’s since 2023, issuing at least three more cease-and-desist letters to other psychedelics purveyors. Still, the threats of enforcement did not appear to stop psychedelics support services from popping up around Colorado. Now another licensing arm is stepping in. Nearly two years after the NMD’s fi rst notice to Lyman, the state Department of Regulatory Affairs (DORA), which is respon- sible for regulating psilocybin practitioners in Colorado, sent Lyman a cease-and-desist order in December 2025, accusing him of unlicensed facilitation. According to DORA’s Offi ce of Natural Medicine Licensure, Lyman is operating as a facilitator of psilocybin, which requires approval from both DORA and the NMD — but he “is not licensed, and has never been licensed to practice facilitation,” DORA’s cease-and-desist reads. McCallister helped draft the Natural Medicine Health Act, or Proposition 122, the voter-approved measure that decrimi- nalized psilocybin and legalized forms of therapeutic use. DORA’s current interpreta- tion “would completely gut the personal use decriminalization provisions,” because the law “specifi cally said you can give away natu- ral medicine and be paid for harm reduction services,” he notes. “That would render that section about harm reduction completely meaningless and signifi cantly limit the personal use provi- sion of the Natural Medicine Health Act, so that has a lot of consequences,” McCallister says. “Darren is not sitting with anybody during the use of mushrooms, and he’s not prepping them for state-licensed admin- istration sessions. He’s giving educational information, support services and answering questions people have about the effects of mushrooms.” DORA will not comment on the case, citing active administrative hearings. Ac- cording to the cease-and-desist letter, Ly- man “offers natural medicine services... including preparation, administration and integration” of DMT and psilocybin at his co-op. He and McCallister deny that Lyman ever provided a space for people to consume psychedelics, or that he sat with or provided hands-on therapeutic services to anyone who consumed psychedelics, other than offering educational materials beforehand. These distinctions make a facilitation license unnecessary, McCallister argues, but DORA fl exes some regulatory muscle in the cease-and-desist by saying that “per- sonal use” and “harm reduction services” can argue their cases in front of a judge “as a defense to criminal charges rather than as an exception to unlicensed practice of facilitation.” “If that is [facilitation], then anybody providing educational services to people using natural medicines could be targeted by this agency,” McCallister counters. The psychedelic advocate is set to appear in front of a DORA administrative judge over the matter. McCallister says his client is prepared to take the fi ght to state court if needed, which could set a precedent for future disputes related to psychedelics trans- actions in Colorado. In the meantime, Lyman is still operating his support service and website because the state’s two closure orders are “illegal and not legitimate,” according to McCallister, who calls Lyman a “pioneer” who’s being singled out for selective enforcement. “Darren has been very vocal about his support for the decriminalization provisions of the law. He’s been very vocal about equal access to natural medicines for adults. He has been to Denver City Council meetings to talk about his work,” McCallister says. “He’s got a somewhat public profi le, because I think they’re looking to make an example out of him.” Email the author at thomas.mitchell@westword. NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS Darren Lyman shows off some of his mushroom-growing boxes in 2023. THOMAS MITCHELL
