Breckenridge business owner and one of Summit County’s first psilocybin facilitators, Tami Clark, is not a longtime proponent of magic mushrooms. She is, however, an opponent of unregulated and reckless use.

She’s seen it done wrong, and knows it can leave the wrong type of lasting impact. So, when Colorado legalized therapeutic psilocybin use through allowing its administration through licensed centers, she saw an opportunity to be the safe option for what is a foreign concept to many.

“I wanted to be on that frontier,” she said.

Her business, TLC Acupuncture and Natural Medicine in Breckenridge, became a licensed healing center in June.

A variety of reasons can bring people to psychedelic-assisted therapy, including facing hospice and end of life situations, which led Clark’s husband to use psilocybin.

Around a week before losing a three-year battle to cancer, a friend of a friend gave her husband psilocybin. She said the practitioner also took psilocybin, and left her husband essentially alone. What was meant to be come to terms with the end of life journey ended up being an isolating experience. 

She said it stuck with her as the wrong way to go about administering psychedelics. One day, around a year later, she said she had a random feeling she needed to take a closer look at the substance. She found Colorado followed in the footsteps of Oregon — the first state to decriminalize psilocybin and legalize its supervised use — and would have its own psilocybin psychedelic-assisted therapy industry rolling out in 2025 thanks to a 2022 voter-approved measure. She swiftly reached out to a lawyer and began following the path the state mandates for licensure.  

It took nearly two years, and 150 hours of training.

“It was more difficult than getting my doctorate and master degrees, it was so much more intense,” she said. 

She said the state doesn’t take the process lightly, and that’s how it should be. 

Colorado municipalities don’t have the authority to ban psilocybin psychedelic-assisted therapy, and local officials can only control certain levers like land zoning. Breckenridge started planning its regulations for psilocybin alongside municipalities across the state around a year ago in anticipation of legalization. Officials shared concerns about when and how the drug could be administered, worrying about it being considered a late-night activity for some. 

Clark said if anyone walks into a Colorado healing center and is handed psilocybin for recreational purposes, the facilitator is breaking the law. Not only does the state require a minimum 5-hour appointment for this type of therapy, it also requires a consultation beforehand. 

She said certain medications, like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI), and certain medical conditions, like schizophrenia, don’t interact well with psilocybin. This safety screening required by law is meant to vet whether the drug will work for someone. 

“It’s not a 100% rule-out,” she said. “We could work together, but we would need to be in contact with a mental health provider.”

While planning regulations, another concern some Breckenridge elected officials raised was regarding client transportation post-appointment. They wanted to ensure people couldn’t just get in their cars and drive around town after being administered psilocybin. Clark said clients must have a planned ride home after their appointment. There’s also a follow-up the next day.

The state requires cameras play a role in the appointment and facilitators be filmed during psilocybin administration. She said a facilitator and a client will determine what dosages work for them beforehand, and the client sets appointment intention beforehand. She said while there are regulations, there’s no playbook for exactly how a session can go because everyone has different goal. She said facilities are there to guide the person through the experience to meet those goals. Clients have to sign a waiver allowing the facilitator to touch their shoulders, hand or foot, if they so wish. They can also sign a waiver for hugs.

The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies and the Department of Revenue oversees Colorado’s healing centers. To learn more about the state’s program, visit TinyURL.com/yc8cmwx8.

 TLC Acupuncture and Natural Medicine is located at 101 N. Main St., Unit 12, in Breckenridge.