CO Magic Mushroom Initiative Leading, La Paz's Itinerant Cocaine Bar, More... (11/9/22)

Five Texas cities pass marijuana decriminalization local measures, the National Park Service is asking tourists to not lick Sonoran desert toads in search of an hallucinogenic high, and more.

The Sonoran desert toad. The National Park Services asks people not to lick them to get high. (Pixabay)

Five Texas Cities Vote to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession. Voters in five Texas cities chose overwhelmingly to approve local ballot measures to effectively decriminalize small-time marijuana possession. The group Ground Game Texas pioneered the tactic in Austin earlier this year and expanded it to the five cities for the general election. The measure, which bars using city funds and staff to test for the presence of THC, passed with 82 percent of the vote in San Marcos, 75 percent in Elgin, 70 percent in Denton, 69 percent in Killeen, and 60 percent in Harker Heights.

Psychedelics

Colorado Magic Mushroom, Natural Psychedelic Initiative Leading, But Still Too Close to Call. An initiative todecriminalize the use and possession of psychedelic mushrooms and other naturally occurring hallucinogen and require the state to create a regulated system for accessing natural psychedelics for people 21 and over is narrowly ahead but has yet to officially called. Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act, has 51.07 percent of votes, with 48.93 percent opposed. Results are in from every county in the state, but not all votes have yet been counted in all counties.

National Park Service Tells Visitors to Please Stop Licking Hallucinogenic Toads. The National Park Service is warning visitors to stop licking the Sonoran desert toad in search of a high. The toad has glands that secrete a toxin that can create a hallucinogenic experience, but the Park Service is warning that touching or licking it can make people sick. The toad is known for producing hallucinations and euphoria, but the Park Service warns that it can also cause anxiety, nausea, seizures, and, rarely, death. "As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana slug, unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glowing eyes in the dead of night, please refrain from licking," the service said in a Facebook post.

International

Cocaine Bar in Bolivia's Capital City Stays Open by Staying on the Move. The world's first cocaine bar, Route 36, is managing to stay open in the Bolivian city of La Paz by repeatedly changing its location and requiring potential customers to do some research to hunt it down. But don't count on Google; the reporting is that you are more likely to find its current location by asking a local cab driver. The cab driver is likely the only local you will encounter once you get to the bar, which operates primarily as a tourist destination with a $5 cover charge and sells grams of quite pure cocaine for $15.