Avon blocks psychedelic-administering ‘natural medicine healing centers’ until August
Craig Mitchelldyer/AP
Colorado has decriminalized the use of psychedelic substances and banned local municipalities from barring medical centers that provide the substances from setting up shop in their towns, but that does not mean towns have no say in when and where these centers go. Avon has already started looking into what it might do to regulate them.
On Tuesday, the Avon Town Council passed an emergency ordinance imposing a six-month ban on the installation of natural medicine healing centers in town.
In 2022, Colorado voters passed Proposition 122, decriminalizing the use of specific psychedelic substances, or “natural medicine,” by people 21 and older. The five natural psychedelic substances listed in the proposition are psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine and mescaline.
The proposition decriminalized the personal possession, growing, sharing and use of these substances, but not the sale. The proposition also permitted the “supervised use” of psychedelic mushrooms at licensed facilities regulated by the state.
The state regulates both the cultivation of psychedelic substances through the Colorado Department of Revenue and the training and licensure of natural medicine healing centers’ facilitators through the Department of Regulatory Agencies.
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Local governments are prohibited from banning these licensed facilities but can “regulate the time, place, and manner of operation of these facilities.”
Why a temporary moratorium?
Natural medicine healing centers have been able to apply for licenses to open around the state since Dec. 31, and some may do so as soon as this summer. The temporary moratorium that the Avon Town Council approved Tuesday provides the town with the opportunity to make “proactive instead of reactive” decisions about how it wants to regulate these centers, said Betsy Stewart, an attorney with Avon’s town attorney’s office.
“Temporary moratoriums are a legal mechanism that are often used when there are revisions to a land use code,” Stewart said. “They preserve the status quo of the current state of the law to allow a deliberate and well-reasoned process and modification of the code.”
Avon, like all other municipalities in the state, cannot ban natural medicine businesses or healing centers. This is different from recreational marijuana businesses, which Avon banned in 2014.
The temporary moratorium gives the Town Council time to review the state statute, hold work sessions to learn more about the town’s regulation options, hear public comment and determine if it wants to pass laws regulating the implementation of natural medicine healing centers in town.
“There was a potential that one of these establishments could apply for licensure here before we’ve had time to … deliberate what we want to do,” said Mayor Tamra Underwood. “Do we want to see, say, ‘they should only be a thousand feet from Avon Elementary School,’ or something like that.”
Avon’s lawyers employed an infrequently used legal strategy — an emergency ordinance — for the temporary moratorium, which allows the council to implement the moratorium in one meeting rather than two. This was done to avoid someone opening a natural medicine healing center in Avon in between the meetings.
In Avon, an emergency ordinance is only permitted under certain circumstances. In this case, the ordinance was allowed to “preserve health and safety,” per the town charter.
Avon’s temporary moratorium is set to last six months, expiring in August.
Whether Avon ultimately decides to put in guardrails for natural medicine healing centers and businesses will be decided after the Town Council learns more from the town attorney’s office in a work session. The work session and hearings for any laws the council decides to implement for the centers will take place during public meetings, with the opportunity for public comment.
The temporary moratorium can be lifted early if the council decides on regulations before August, and it can be extended by a couple of weeks if the process takes slightly longer, Stewart said. “The goal, always, is to get it done within the time frame,” she said.
