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Magic mushroom-infused products appear in Colorado gas stations – what public health officials want consumers to know

Denver Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection inspectors confiscated unregulated PolkaDot-branded chocolate bars and gummies from six stores after laboratory tests revealed illegal psychoactive ingredients, including synthetic tryptamines.
Marketed as "mushroom blends" containing non-hallucinogenic varieties, these 2-ounce chocolate bars actually contained psilocybin and psilocin, the principal psychedelics found in Psilocybe mushrooms, misleading both retailers and consumers.
California authorities destroyed more than US$3 million of similar products after testing revealed synthetic psychoactive drugs; Harvard physician Dr. Pieter Cohen noted that distribution through small gas stations helps sellers avoid FDA detection.
Advisories urge residents to avoid purchasing PolkaDot products and report sightings to 311 via the city's consumer protection portal; much confusion stems from Colorado's Natural Medicine Act despite the state not legalizing retail psilocybin sales.
Products like these fall into a regulatory gap under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which classifies herbal items as food rather than drugs, while psilocybin remains prohibited under the Controlled Substances Act.

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