Colorado regulators have issued the first licenses to individuals seeking to open psilocybin-related businesses.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Department of Revenue’s Natural Medicine Division had approved seven license applications for prospective business owners, including one who wants to open a psilocybin mushroom cultivation and another who hopes to operate a healing center. Additionally, the division issued one license to a local who hopes to work in the nascent industry.

The licenses mark the first step in Colorado’s rollout of a legal psychedelic-assisted therapy industry. Although individuals have received approval from the state, each respective business also needs to be issued a license before it can begin operating. So far, no business licenses have received approval from the Natural Medicine Division, according to state data. Still, regulators at the agency expect the public could have legal access to services in this space as soon as spring.

Greeley, Colorado, resident Troy Leonard is among the first people to have his application approved. The 33-year-old Marine Corps veteran is the CEO of a company called Valor Minds, which seeks to open a small mushroom cultivation facility in Englewood to supply licensed healing centers.

Leonard said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and found relief from his symptoms through microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms. He and a business partner have been growing them for several years to share with other local veterans, and he hopes more will consider psychedelics as a mental health tool.

“It’s a huge thing to me” to be able to enter the industry, Leonard tells The Denver Post. “Probably one of the greatest things I’ve done with my life besides fighting for the country.”

Jillian Gordon also recently received an owner’s license. Gordon is the co-founder and CEO of Go Within Collective, a prospective healing center in Lakewood that intends to offer psilocybin-assisted therapy alongside other mindfulness practices like yoga, meditation and breathwork. The facility is expected to be a hub for individual practitioners who specialize in treating various conditions, she said.

Gordon, who is also a health and wellness coach, has spent the last five-plus years in the psychedelic underground working primarily with people who experience chronic pain. She wants to transition into the regulated industry to ensure facilitators meet a mutually agreed-upon standard of care. Licensure feels like a validation of the hard work the community has put into making that a reality, she said.

“I’m looking forward to the level of accountability that is ahead… instead of doing the best we can with what we have, actually having a set of standards to follow,” Gordon said. “We can openly collaborate so the level of safety is higher and safe access is readily available for people.”

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