Psilocybin is decriminalized statewide for adults 21+ and legally available through licensed healing centers, but retail sales remain illegal.
Colorado has the most permissive psilocybin laws in the United States as of 2026, running on two tracks. First, under voter-approved Proposition 122 (2022) and its implementing law SB23-290, adults 21 and older can legally possess, use, share, and home-grow psilocybin mushrooms, with no set possession limit — though selling them remains illegal. Second, a state-regulated program offers supervised psilocybin sessions at licensed healing centers. Licensing opened at the end of 2024, the first center was licensed in Denver on March 31, 2025 and held the first regulated session that June, and by February 2026 roughly 34 healing centers were licensed statewide, including lower-cost micro centers. There is still no dispensary-style retail: you cannot legally buy mushrooms to take home. The one genuinely unsettled question this summer is HB26-1325, signed June 4, 2026, which tightens rules against gray-market 'gifting' shops and rewrites the definition of 'personal use' that governs how adults may share with one another. It takes effect August 12, 2026. A 'Voted to Share' campaign was gathering signatures in July 2026 to refer one narrower piece — the 'personal use' rewrite — to the November ballot, and a Colorado referendum suspends only the part it challenges, so the advertising and sales provisions take effect either way. Sessions are open to adults from any state, with no diagnosis or residency requirement. Psilocybin remains illegal under federal law, so caution still applies on federal land and when crossing state lines.
Possession
Adults 21 and older may legally possess and use psilocybin mushrooms for personal use anywhere in Colorado, with no specified quantity limit under state law. Public consumption is still a petty offense, and possession by anyone under 21 is not permitted. Note that HB26-1325 rewrites the statutory definition of 'personal use' — the change narrows how adults may share natural medicine with each other rather than adding a possession cap, and as of late July 2026 that section is the subject of a pending veto referendum that could suspend it.
Cultivation
Adults 21+ may grow psilocybin mushrooms at a private residence in an enclosed, locked space of up to 12 by 12 feet. This is legal under Colorado law only; cultivating psilocybin mushrooms remains a federal offense.
Retail / purchase
No dispensary-style purchase exists: buying or selling psilocybin mushrooms is illegal. The only legal paid access is a supervised session at a state-licensed healing center, where the mushrooms are consumed on site rather than taken home. HB26-1325 (signed June 4, 2026) would additionally bar advertising of natural medicine, online sales, and the gray-market practice of using paid harm-reduction or support services to 'gift' mushrooms. Those bans are added at C.R.S. 18-18-434(5)(c)(VII) and (VIII) and take effect at 12:01 a.m. on August 12, 2026. A veto referendum backed by the Voted to Share campaign, cleared to circulate June 9, 2026, challenges only a narrower piece of the act — the portion of Section 8 rewriting the 'personal use' definition at 18-18-434(12)(d) — and as of July 29, 2026 it had not been submitted to the Secretary of State or found sufficient, with 124,238 signatures due August 11, 2026. If it qualifies, only that piece would go to a November 2026 vote; the advertising and sales provisions take effect either way.
Licensed access in Colorado
- Colorado Natural Medicine Program — program. State-regulated supervised psilocybin access overseen by the Department of Revenue's Natural Medicine Division (businesses) and DORA (facilitators). 34 licensed healing centers as of February 2026 — 9 standard and 25 lower-cost micro-healing centers, with 18 applications pending; open to adults 21+ from any state with no diagnosis, referral, or residency requirement.
- The Center Origin — healing center. Denver — Colorado's first licensed healing center (license issued March 31, 2025); held the state's first regulated psilocybin session on June 6, 2025.
Local decriminalization
Denver (2019 — first U.S. city to decriminalize; now superseded by statewide law)
Spores
Psilocybin spores are legal to buy and possess in Colorado — unlike California, Georgia, Idaho, and Florida and (since 2025) Florida, which criminalize them. Colorado is unusual in that adults 21+ may also legally germinate and grow them at home under state law. The federal caveat matters: spores themselves contain no psilocybin, but once germinated the resulting mycelium and mushrooms are Schedule I federally, so cultivation that Colorado permits is still a federal offense.
Amanita muscaria
Amanita muscaria is legal in Colorado; it is not a controlled substance under state or federal law (Louisiana is the only state that bans it, under a 2005 law, outside of ornamental use). It is a muscimol mushroom, chemically unrelated to psilocybin, and is not part of Colorado's Prop 122 natural medicine program. Note the FDA does not permit amanita or muscimol as a food or dietary-supplement ingredient.
Recent changes
Dec 31, 2024: the state began accepting natural-medicine business license applications. Mar 31, 2025: Colorado issued its first healing center license, to The Center Origin in Denver; the first regulated psilocybin session followed on June 6, 2025. 2025: SB25-297 carried implementation of the natural medicine initiative further and gave the governor authority to pardon a class of defendants; on June 18, 2025 Gov. Polis used it to issue a categorical pardon covering state-level psilocybin and psilocin possession convictions — widely reported as a 'mass pardon,' though it reached only a handful of people. Feb 2026: 34 healing centers were licensed (9 standard and 25 lower-cost micro centers), with 18 applications pending. Apr 20, 2026: SB26-031 signed (also effective Aug 12, 2026), automatically aligning Colorado law with any future federal rescheduling of FDA-approved Schedule I medicines while expressly carving out and leaving intact the Prop 122 natural medicine program. June 4, 2026: HB26-1325 signed — it creates an ibogaine research pilot (most of that section takes effect only if the Behavioral Health Administration receives $150,000 in gifts, grants or donations) and bars advertising natural medicine, online sales, and using harm-reduction or support services to conduct natural medicine sales. Those advertising and sales provisions take effect Aug 12, 2026 regardless of the veto referendum now circulating, which challenges only the separate 'personal use' rewrite at 18-18-434(12)(d). The 'Voted to Share' campaign (Natural Medicine Referendum Petition 001-2026) was approved for circulation and is gathering the 124,238 valid signatures required, due in early August 2026, to refer Section 8 — the rewrite of 'personal use' — to voters; if it qualifies, that section is suspended and goes to the November 2026 ballot instead of taking effect, while the rest of the law proceeds. Separately, since June 2026 the Natural Medicine Advisory Board may recommend expanding the regulated program beyond psilocybin to DMT, ibogaine and non-peyote mescaline; it recommended ibogaine in 2025.
Personal possession by adults 21+ carries no state criminal penalty; under-21 possession is a petty offense (a fine up to $100 or up to 4 hours of drug education or counseling), open and public use is a petty offense with a fine up to $100 plus up to 24 hours of community service, and unlicensed sales remain criminally prosecutable.
Legal options near you
Colorado residents already have the country's broadest legal access at home: 34 licensed healing centers statewide offer supervised psilocybin sessions, and adults 21+ may legally grow their own. Spores and cultivation supplies are legal to sell and buy in Colorado — Denver Myco Market (on ShrooMap) is one profiled cultivation-supply shop — as are amanita muscaria and functional mushroom retailers. No shop may legally sell psilocybin mushrooms themselves.
See also: can you buy magic mushrooms online legally? · shroom delivery: legal or scam?
FAQ
Are shrooms legal in Colorado?
Largely yes at the state level. Adults 21+ can legally possess, use, grow, and share psilocybin mushrooms under Proposition 122 (2022) and SB23-290 (2023), and supervised sessions are available at licensed healing centers. Selling mushrooms outside the licensed program is still illegal, and psilocybin remains illegal under federal law. One part of this is in flux: a June 2026 law, HB26-1325, narrows the legal definition of 'personal use' and therefore what counts as lawful sharing. It is scheduled to take effect August 12, 2026, but a veto referendum circulating in July 2026 could suspend that section and send it to voters in November instead.
Can you buy magic mushrooms at a dispensary in Colorado?
No. Colorado has no retail dispensary model for psilocybin. The only legal way to pay for psilocybin is a supervised session at a licensed healing center. A June 2026 law (HB26-1325) targets the gray-market shops that 'gift' mushrooms alongside paid services, along with advertising and online sales; it is scheduled to take effect August 12, 2026, though a pending veto referendum could suspend the portion redefining 'personal use.' Either way, no version of Colorado law lets you buy mushrooms to take home.
How do psilocybin healing centers in Colorado work?
Licensed healing centers offer state-regulated sessions where a trained, DORA-licensed facilitator supervises you while you take tested psilocybin on site, with preparation beforehand and integration afterward. Adults 21+ from any state can book without a diagnosis or referral; costs vary from several hundred dollars at micro-healing centers to a few thousand for full-dose programs.
Is it legal to grow mushrooms in Colorado?
Yes, under state law. Adults 21+ may cultivate psilocybin mushrooms for personal use at a private residence in an enclosed, locked area up to 12 by 12 feet, and spores, cultures, and grow supplies are legal to buy. Growing beyond those limits or selling what you grow remains illegal, and cultivation is still a federal offense regardless of Colorado law.
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- Colorado Department of Natural Medicine — Natural Medicine FAQ (accessed 2026-07-28)
- CPR News — We toured three psychedelic healing centers in Colorado (Feb 4, 2026) (accessed 2026-07-28)
- Westword — Colorado's new ibogaine law targets unlicensed psilocybin mushroom sales (June 2026, HB26-1325) (accessed 2026-07-28)
- Colorado Natural Medicine Division — First healing center license issued (2025) (accessed 2026-07-28)
- Vicente LLP — The Ultimate Guide to Colorado's Natural Medicine Health Act (SB23-290) (accessed 2026-07-28)
- Colorado General Assembly — HB26-1325 Natural Medicine (accessed 2026-07-28)
- Colorado Legislative Council Staff — HB26-1325 final fiscal note (July 9, 2026): signed June 4, 2026, 'takes effect on August 12, 2026, assuming no referendum petition is filed' (accessed 2026-07-29)
- Westword — Psychedelic activists launch referendum to reverse part of new law that restricts sharing (Voted to Share, Referendum Petition 001-2026) (accessed 2026-07-29)
- Colorado General Assembly — SB26-031 Use of Prescription Product with Controlled Substance (signed Apr 20, 2026) (accessed 2026-07-29)