Denver committee advances local licensing proposal for natural medicine healing centers; would repeal 2019 psilocybin decriminalization ordinance

The Business, Arts, Workforce, Climate and Aviation Services Committee on Feb. 5 heard an Excise and Licenses presentation and public comment on a proposed local ordinance that would require Denver‑level licenses for healing centers offering state‑licensed natural medicine services and repeal initiated ordinance 301, the 2019 Denver psilocybin decriminalization measure.

The committee was presented with the city’s design for a narrow, local licensing tier limited to healing centers — not cultivation, manufacturing or testing facilities — together with location, advertising and operational provisions intended to address neighborhood impacts while preserving access and equity.

City staff said Denver cannot prohibit state‑licensed natural medicine businesses but may regulate their time, place and manner. Under the state framework created after Proposition 122, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) and the Department of Revenue (DOR) license individual facilitators and a range of facility types. The city’s proposal relies on those state licenses for cultivation, manufacturing and testing facilities, and adds a Denver healing‑center license to address local concerns about venues that operate more like social or retreat spaces.

The proposed local rules and exemptions

Excise and Licenses staff described four main pieces of the ordinance: (1) require a Denver license for healing centers (with specified exemptions); (2) adopt location and operational requirements for healing centers; (3) ban outdoor advertising similar to the city’s marijuana rules; and (4) repeal initiated ordinance 301 (the 2019 Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative) because the state legalization and regulatory framework has superseded portions of that local measure.

Staff said the local healing‑center license would not apply to: (a) bonafide religious, cultural or spiritual ceremonies performed by members of federally recognized tribes provided those…