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California Could Be the First State to Legalize Magic Mushrooms

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #988)
Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy

This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here.

It could be up to California voters to make the state the first in the nation to allow for the use and sale of psilocybin, the mind-altering component of magic mushrooms.

The California Psilocybin Legalization Initiative has been filed with state officials. (Greenoid/Flickr)
On Friday, Kevin Saunders, a candidate for mayor in the Monterrey County town of Marina, filed the California Psilocybin Legalization Initiative with the state attorney general's office. The initiative would exempt people 21 and over from state criminal penalties for using, possessing, cultivating, transporting, and selling psilocybin.

Filing an initiative is just the first step, though. The measure must be submitted for public comment for 30 days and then given a circulating title and summary by the attorney general's office before it is approved for signature gathering. If and when it is approved, campaigners would then have to gather some 365,880 valid voter signatures to be placed on the November 2018 ballot.

Saunders told the Los Angeles Times that psilocybin helped him get over an addiction to heroin a decade ago. "I think we're seeing something that could literally heal our brothers and sisters," he said. "We're talking about real cutting-edge stuff."

Using the initiative process, California became the first state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. And while it wasn't the first state to legalize marijuana via the initiative process -- Colorado and Washington led the way in 2012 -- the state legalized recreational marijuana via an initiative last year.

The initiative and referendum process has been criticized as inflexible, circumventing planning, and relying on an uninformed electorate, and it is also open to criticism as a tool for corporate interests. But it has proven an invaluable tool for advancing the cause of drug reform in the face of state legislatures resistant to change.

All eight states that pioneered marijuana legalization did so through the initiative process. No state has yet legalized marijuana through the legislative process, though some appear close. And the pioneering medical marijuana states all did it through the initiative process as well. After California approved it in 1996, it was five years before Hawaii became the first state to okay it legislatively.

California may again be poised to break down the walls of prohibition -- this time with natural psychedelics.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

Bongstar420 (not verified)

I used to think this would be a good thing, but after having observed psychedelics amplifying people's inherent backwards thinking around supernaturalism, I am now extremely skeptical that it should be freely available. Way to many trippers have proposed the most asinine concepts as "real" for me to feel this is not a threat to a reasonable society.

Thu, 08/31/2017 - 1:22pm Permalink
Simon wood (not verified)

With a handle Bongstar420 I would have thought u more open minded perhaps...! Yes its true lots of people can develop some 'magical thinking' ideas following shrooms, but this is not the 'rule' & in a Universe that is 96% dark mysterious energy/matter it is not difficult to get somewhat 'lost'. With appropriately compassionate , informed education about the effects of psychedics in general, those people who wish to enter the *lifelong journey* of enlightenment are easy able to direct their thoughts to real world positive causes & often reconnect to what their true passion is, which frequently turns out to be helpful, holistic & community orientated imho. For more holistic education a good *start* is here: http://www.maps.org/ https://www.erowid.org/ ...this is important so less of us become like this guy... http://theantimedia.org/jp-sears-mind-control-media/ Namaste pSi:
Thu, 08/31/2017 - 5:23pm Permalink

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