Inside the Campaign to Legalize Magic Mushrooms in California

[TheBlackPirate]

Mushrooms

Inside the Campaign to Legalize Magic Mushrooms in California
A ballot measure would create a regulatory framework for recreational sales.
Zach Weissmueller | 2.3.2020 11:40 AM


On May 7, 2019, Denver voted to become the first city in America to decriminalize magic mushrooms. On June 4, 2019, Oakland, California, decriminalized all psychedelic plants and fungi. On January 28, 2020, the neighboring Bay Area city of Santa Cruz followed suit. And now statewide efforts are underway in Washington state, Oregon, and California.

"When it comes to psychedelics, we feel people should have the freedom of choice," says Ryan Munevar, the head of Decriminalize California. "In essence, cognitive liberty."

Now the group wants to take the psychedelic decriminalization movement a step further by convincing California voters not only to deprioritize enforcement of laws against the possession and consumption of psychedelics but to create a legal framework for commercial sales via ballot initiative.

"We realized, all right, let's make sure nobody else goes to jail for this. Let's give it a proper, regulated system," says Munevar. "And we realized in order to do that, you'd actually have to, in essence, legalize sales."

But this approach is controversial within the movement. "We led from a place of love—that is we didn't push commodification. We pushed equitable access and just decriminalizing our relationship with nature," says Carlos Plazola, head of Decriminalize Nature. "The city basically said, 'We recognize the healing effect of these plants.' So the citizenry hears that and says, 'Oh, I'm, I'm curious now.' And because it's sanctioned…people are stepping into those healing spaces with less fear," says Plazola.

Inside the Campaign to Legalize Magic Mushrooms in California

A ballot measure would create a regulatory framework for recreational sales.

reason.com

 

[TheBlackPirate]

That's pretty good news. Wikipeida already shows that in the world about one dozen countries already have completely legal or partially legal magic mushrooms, that's good progress.

Legal status of psilocybin mushrooms - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Does anyone know how all the countries in the Spanish speaking word regulate psychedelics that are traditional medicines in those cultures for thousands of years? These psychedelics are part of the religion and culture of these people and should be respected. Do any more countries in the world allow for religious use of psychedelics?

 

[Cream Gravy?]

^The U.S. does if you're part of the Native American Church. They're the only people in the country licensed to grow peyote.

 

[euphoricc]

I NEED THE USA TO APPLY THESE

 

[TheBlackPirate]

^The U.S. does if you're part of the Native American Church. They're the only people in the country licensed to grow peyote.

That's good to know. Native Americans have a history that includes psychedelic medicine that's thousands of years old. Much like the alcohol prohibition and also the cannabis prohibition, psychedelic prohibition was politically motivated and our future includes the legal regulated use of these medicines if we honestly work together with society on the path to legalization.