Minors overdose on mushrooms at middle school, adult arrested

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. ( KXRM ) — The Colorado Springs Police Department arrested a man on Tuesday after two minors overdosed on mushrooms at Fox Meadow Middle School.

According to the agency, the two students were transported to a hospital for medical attention. Police said they overdosed on psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as “magic mushrooms” or shrooms.

The Department of Justice/Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) said ingesting mushrooms can cause psychological consequences such as hallucinations, and the inability to tell fantasy from reality.

Overdose effects include longer more intense “trip” episodes, psychosis and possible death.

Detective Johnson and Detective Linfoot responded to the hospital to initiate the overdose drug investigation, and through detailed interviews, they found another set of minors were involved in the case. All four students were engaged with a narcotics dealer through Telegram, a phone app for instant messaging, officers said.

The group of four — ages ranging from 12 to 16 — had purchased mushrooms from an adult dealer on Monday evening. CSPD said the transaction occurred in the parking lot of a King Soopers located at 815 Cheyenne Meadows Road.

Detectives worked with the minors’ parents and recovered the remaining psilocybin mushrooms as evidence. Then, they utilized the minors’ phones to communicate with the dealer.

CSPD said the minors were able to provide a general physical description of a car associated with the dealer, but no identification was made at the time. Johnson contacted the dealer through Telegram when posing as a minor. MNU detectives and Johnson were able to set up another narcotics transaction and draw out the dealer during the undercover purchase.

During the operation, detectives were able to identify the man as 21-year-old Damien Solano who was carrying approximately 2 ounces of mushrooms, as ordered by Johnson through the Telegram app.

Solano was arrested and booked into the El Paso County Jail for four counts of unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale, one count of unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale attempt, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

FOX31’s Greg Nieto spoke to One Chance to Grow Up, a nonprofit organization that was formed after Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, legalizing recreational marijuana.

Alton Dillard, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, weighed in on the overdose.

“I always want to be clear,” he told Nieto. “We are not anti-industry. Our concerns are just protecting youth and their still-developing brains.”

Dillard said parents need to be aware of their children’s cell phone and social media usage.

“The dangers of not knowing what your kids are up to — to me, that’s the overarching issue here,” Dillard said.

“Harrison School District 2 is grateful for our School Resource Officers and the commitment of our local law enforcement, who acted swiftly to arrest the adult providing psilocybin mushrooms to juveniles in a local grocery store parking lot,” a spokesperson with District 2 told Nexstar’s FOX21 News. “We appreciate the diligence of our education staff, our students, and families who immediately report concerns like these. Community awareness and action are vital in addressing substance abuse and the adults in our community who provide these substances to our youth.”

In 2022, Colorado signed a psychedelic law that decriminalized five psychedelic drugs including psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine and mescaline. Proposition 122 is only for individuals who are 21 and over.

There are penalties for those who are not 21 and are in use, possession or transporting psychedelics. Someone who distributes and allows underage individuals to access these substances is also subjected to penalties.

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