Colorado’s Psychedelics Program Is Now ‘Fully Launched For Operations’ As State Officials Certify Testing Lab

Regulators of Colorado’s soon-to-be-launched psychedelics system have now licensed and inspected businesses of all license types—most recently a testing laboratory—which officials say means “the regulated natural medicine supply chain is complete and the program is fully launched for operations.”

According to the state Department of Revenue’s Natural Medicine Division (NMD), licenses have now been approved for cultivators, manufacturers, healing centers and a testing facility. With the recent inspection of the state’s one licensed testing lab—Nordic Analytical Laboratories, in Denver—the next step is for products to be tested and eventually delivered to licensed healing centers for use.

In an email announcement on Tuesday afternoon, NMD said it was “excited to announce that the first licensed testing facility is fully certified by the Department of Public Health and Environment.”

As of mid-May, regulators had approved one standard and four microbusiness healing center licenses, three standard cultivation licenses, two product manufacturing licenses and one testing license.

Following the lab’s recent certification by the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), testing can now begin.

“CDPHE has completed inspection and certification of the first licensed natural medicine testing facility, Nordic Analytical Labs,” a CDPHE representative told Marijuana Moment in an email on Tuesday. “As of May 21, the testing facility has been certified to test natural medicines for tryptamine content, homogeneity, and microbial contaminants.”

“Now that the Colorado Department of Revenue has licensed cultivators, manufacturers, healing centers, and testing facilities, CDPHE has certified a testing facility, and the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies has licensed facilitators,” the agency continued, “natural medicine can start to be transferred from a cultivator or manufacturer to a lab for testing, then eventually to a healing center where a facilitator can oversee administration.”

Colorado Department of Revenue, Natural Medicine Division

Another 23 healing center licenses (eight standard, 11 micro) were pending at press time, as were eight cultivation licenses (six standard, two micro) and two product manufacturer licenses. No other testing lab applications were in the queue.

Colorado’s second-in-the-nation program allows licensed facilitators to conduct therapeutic sessions using psilocybin, a main active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms.

Tasia Poinsatte, Colorado director for the nonprofit Healing Advocacy Fund said she expects products will be available for administration at healing centers within the coming month.

“I really think that it’s officially rolling out next month,” Poinsatte said. “I know we’ve kind of been saying for a while, ‘It’s getting started, it’s getting started!” but I think this is the last piece to fall into place.”

“Big picture,” she added, “this program has been rolled out very thoughtfully, very carefully.”

Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a bill to create the regulatory framework for psychedelics in 2023, following voter approval of the legalization law the year before.

Oregon voters previously legalized therapeutic psilocybin in 2020.

Compared to Oregon’s law, Poinsatte said, Colorado’s allows “greater integration with other forms of healthcare,” pointing, for example, to the ability of providers such as therapists to offer in-office administration of psilocybin rather than needing to secure and operate a standalone psychedelic clinic.

“We’ve done a lot of advocacy to try to create more affordable options,” she explained, “and part of that is just flexibility of options.”

Earlier this month, meanwhile, Colorado lawmakers sent the governor a bill to revise implementation rules and data-tracking provisions around the new psilocybin system and empower the governor to grant pardons to people who’ve been convicted of past psychedelics-related offenses.

If enacted, the bill would authorize Polis or future governors to grant clemency to people with convictions for low-level possession of substances such as psilocybin, ibogaine and DMT that have since been legalized for adults.

It would also require the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Department of Revenue (DOR) and Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) to “collect information and data related to the use of natural medicine and natural medicine products.”

That would include data on law enforcement activities, adverse health events, consumer protection claims and behavioral impacts related to psychedelics.

“What this bill does is it sets up a mechanism to collect health information, which should give us the data to see whether or not natural medicine, as it’s rolled out, has adverse health effects or beneficial health impacts,” Sen. Matt Ball (D), SB25-297’s Senate sponsor, said of the bill earlier this month.

The proposal overall has support from an array of advocates, including psychedelic medicine proponents as well as groups more skeptical of legalization. Public commenters at a hearing last month seemed to agree that the bill’s data collection provisions would help observers both inside and outside Colorado better understand the outcomes around regulated psychedelics.

Polis last month separately signed into law a bill that would allow a form of psilocybin to be prescribed as a medication if the federal government authorizes its use.

As for the state’s legal cannabis system, meanwhile, lawmakers also sent Polis a bill that would make a series of changes to the state’s marijuana laws, including revisions to help more people participate the industry and reduce certain regulatory restrictions on cannabis businesses.

However, the measure from Reps. William Lindstedt (D) and Jenny Willford (D) and as well as Sens. Julie Gonzales (D) and Robert Rodriguez was significantly amended during the legislative process, removing provisions from the measure as introduced that would have doubled the amount of marijuana adults could buy from licensed retailers and allowed cannabis shops to hold promotional events.

That came about four years after Polis signed into law a bill to increase the personal possession limit to two ounces.

Another bill, which would have limited THC in marijuana and outlawed a variety of psilocybin products, will no longer move forward this session following the lead sponsor’s move to withdraw the bill.

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