The Denver District Attorney’s Office on Thursday dismissed a felony drug case against a rabbi charged with manufacturing psilocybin, citing the voter-approved Proposition 122, which legalized psychedelics, including psilocybin, for medicinal use.
At an arraignment hearing, a representative of the Denver District Attorney’s Office said the case was being dismissed against Ben Gorelick “in the interest of justice.” Carolyn Tyler, a spokesperson for the DA’s office, said the dismissal came about “in light of the voters’ decision” on Proposition 122.
Gorelick was arrested in February after police raided a warehouse in north Denver where he was growing more than 30 different types of psychedelic mushrooms. He had been charged with possession with intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance, a first-degree felony.
The case against a chemist who was arrested during the January raid also was dismissed Thursday, Tyler said.
Gorelick is the founder of The Sacred Tribe, a Denver-based religious group that used psilocybin ceremoniously until the police raid last winter. Several members of the group were in the courtroom Thursday and celebrated when the dismissal was announced.
